Undead, English and Ravens
by CriminalChaos
Summary: School isn't good at the best of times, but when you are paired with a wannabe vampire for 2 weeks the normal school days seem like a dream. Or that's what Pete thought when he got stuck with Mike Makowski for an English project, what could the next 2 weeks hold for the dark pair? (First fic, please review and give me constructive criticism! :) ) DISCLAIMER: Only the plot is mine!
1. Partners

**Thank you for giving my fic a chance! I will be updating once a week as I have already written a lot of this fic, warning though: it moves very slowly and is probably going to be really long BUT stick with me because I have a lot of ideas!**

 **There will be Pete x Mike (of course), Michael x Henrietta and Firkle x Ike (because I think its cute as heck), HINTS of other ships but not in depth.**

 **Anyway on with the story!**

When he heard the shrill beeping of his alarm, Pete groaned out some profanities along the lines of 'fuck this shit bitch day' and buried his face deeper into his black silk pillow, the sound seemed to cut straight through his eardrums and pierce his brain. He groaned again knowing that he would have to get up soon so he would be ready for Michael to pick him up.

He flung his arm out and all but crushed his phone to turn his alarm off, he managed to pry his eyes open enough to see that it was now 7:06am, he sat up groggily and stretched his arms above his head earning him a satisfying pop from his spine before he crawled out of bed.

He slept in only his black boxers because the cold didn't usually bother him, however today was particularly chilly so goosebumps rose on his exposed torso and arms.

He shuffled across the hall into the bathroom and quickly turned the shower on, it wasn't long before steam filled the room and condensation appeared on the walls.

The threw his boxers into the washing basket and hopped into the shower letting out and sigh of relief as the hot water cascaded down his body relaxing his taut muscles and engulfing him in a shield, seemingly protecting him from the chill of early Colorado air.

He washed his red and black hair as fast as he could and gave his body a quick scrub before reluctantly leaving the warmth, he rubbed the excess water from his hair with a towel before wrapping it around his waist and walking back to his room.

As soon as he stepped into the arctic tundra he calls his bedroom the water residue on his body turned into an unwanted ice blanket over his pale skin.

He shivered slightly and rummaged through his drawers for something to wear, with the cold biting at him he didn't bother to look at what he chose and ended up in a black t shirt with black and white striped sleeves and some black skinny jeans which were torn multiple times at the knees.

He quickly stalked back into the bathroom and neatly applied his eyeliner and a hint of black eye shadow, due to the fact that he had been doing the same makeup routine for years he could do it in a hurry and still be neat.

He went downstairs and glanced at the clock on the wall 7:29am, _Michael will be here any minute and he will be fucking pissed if I'm not ready._

He squatted on the last step to pull on his black scuffed converse, deciding that he wasn't feeling purple today, as soon as the clock hit 7:30am he heard a loud honking outside, he stood up and grabbed his messenger bag from the coat rack, it was black with faint grey outlines of feathers all over it, then he walked outside and got in Michael's pristine black herse.

"About fucking time" Michael hissed angrily, glancing into the back seat before driving forwards.

"What the fuck's up with him?" Pete asked as he turned to Firkle who was sitting beside him.

Firkle had his fringe over the side Pete was at so he couldn't see his face, he was wearing a plain black long sleeve shirt and black skinny jeans with black Doc Martins and a white belt.

Firkle turned to Pete and shrugged, "I don't know, he was like this when I got in"

They both glanced in the older curly haired boys direction but he just concentrated on the slightly icy road ahead, his brow knitted tightly and his jaw clenched, visibly tense.

 _I'll just stay quiet, don't want to piss him off more.._

Pete leaned on his palm and stared out of the window, he watched the scenery go by in a blur then he realised someone was missing.

"Firkle where's Henrietta?" He asked the smaller boy, before the young teen could answer however, Michael all but roared "she's getting a ride with fucking conformist bitch Stan! He's only trying to fuck her because Wendy dumped his sorry ass again! Jesus..."

After the small outburst Firkle and Pete looked at each other with similar expressions of realisation on their faces.

"Oh.." Was all Pete dared to say not wanting to anger the other more, he resumed staring out of the window and soon they were at school.

Firkle nodded to them as he left to head in the direction of the middle school, Pete watched his younger companion till he turned the corner then he continued walking along side Michael.

The latter was still noticeably on edge so Pete didn't speak, they walked in silence until eventually they reached Michaels classroom, so they parted ways and Pete headed towards his own class.

As he was walking down the corridor he caught a glimpse of green, his own green eyes flickered to his right and there he saw his least favourite person, and there is a long list of people he doesn't like.

Mike Makowski. _Fucking vampire conformist. Why did I have to see him now, my day was already off to a shit start._

As Pete was glaring, Mike shifted his gaze and accidentally locked eyes with the red haired goth, he froze for a second, their blue and green clashing in a tense moment before he tore his gaze away and hurriedly scurried away towards his own class.

 _... Was he fucking blushing?! Why the fuck did he blush? He must be sick or something, I don't fucking care. Fucking Homosforatu._

Pete made it to his class in time for the first bell and sat in his seat at the back left corner behind Kenny McCormick and next to Craig Tucker. He didn't mind his seat, he could daydream while staring out of the window because Craig and Kenny rarely bothered him unless they wanted to borrow a smoke or vice versa but that was rare as it is.

Form time was over pretty quickly and Pete's first class was english which he generally enjoyed due to him reading and writing a lot in his free time.

He sat down, slouching in his chair, and pulled out his notebook, flipping to a clean page and began sketching random things while he waited for the teacher to begin writing notes, however the only thing she wrote on the whiteboard was 'TEAM PROJECT'.

Pete's brow pulled together and a cold chill ran down his spine, he glanced around the room looking for someone who would accept him and was tolerable enough to work with.

Cartman, definitely not. Butters, he was nice but way too peppy. Bebe, out of the question. Kyle, he isn't bad, he's quiet and easy to be around, hopefully he wouldn't mind working with Pete.

Before he had chance to consider it further the teacher cleared her throat and said cheerfully "ok so we are doing a team project, you will be in pairs and I have decided them so no one gets left out" she said smiling, presumably trying to make everyone happy by assuring them they don't have to beg others to be their partners, instead she earned herself a loud groan from over half the class. It didn't seem to faze her though

 _Fuck this I better not get paired with Eric fucking Cartman..._

"Ok so I'll call your names out with your partners and move so you're together, first is Eric and Wendy" Wendy sighed irritably and Cartman just smirked as he sat his large figure down next to his unwilling partner.

"Next is.. Kyle and Kevin" the boys smiled at each other and started talked happily when Kyle placed his notebook and pens on the desk and sat down.

 _Fuck Kyle's gone! Who am I going to get?_

"Then.. Peter and.. Mike" Pete's head shot up, he searched the room frantically for the one face he missed before, he was sat at the opposite side of the room with his head resting against forearms on his desk.

 _Well, fuck. Me._


	2. Shakespeare and Jealousy?

**I was supposed to update once a week but I figured I'd update sooner on this chapter to try hook new readers in. It's longer than the first but there still isn't much progression, sorry guys! Enjoy and review!**

Pete slowly made his way over to where the false vampire was supposedly sleeping, he grimaced as he closed the distance between them.

When he was, in his opinion close enough, he dropped his bag loudly on the desk beside the sleeping figure. Nothing. He cleared his throat. Nothing. "Vamp" he said loudly, well as loud as Pete could manage which wasn't very loud because he had a very soft voice from not talking often. Still nothing. "Fucking wake the fuck up!" He said as he smacked Mike upside the head.

Mike suddenly sat up straight and rubbed his eyes with his fingerless glove clad hands "uh.. What?" He said sleepily, still not focused on his surroundings.

His black fringe was messed up and there was a faint mark on his jacket sleeve from his pale foundation, he didn't wear it all the time and when he did he didn't wear much because he was already rather pale.

Pete stood beside him impatiently, already highly annoyed that he got paired with him let alone had to wake him up.

"Are you fucking awake yet vamp conformist?!" Pete asked aggressively, causing Mike to turn towards him startled as if he didn't realise there was someone there.

"Erm... Why are you..?" Mike asked, trailing off at the end and staring at Pete with wide blue eyes.

He was wearing a black t shirt with spider webs on and his black high necked hoodie decorated with coloured faces, he has similar makeup to Pete's aside from the fact that he had more eyeshadow which he has now smudged from rubbing his eyes, Pete inwardly laughed at the boy. Mike also had 2 snakebite ring piercings, and 2 piercings in each eyebrow.

Pete let out an exasperated sigh before pointing at the white board, Mike followed the direction of Pete's finger and saw what the teacher had written, he swallowed and looked back to Pete "so.. you're my partner?.." He asked unsure.

Pete rolled his eyes "yes! There is no other reason I would be over here anywhere near you." He then sat down next to Mike, ignoring him completely, and awaited the teacher's orders.

Mike on the other hand was just staring at Pete curiously, idly playing with his tongue piercing in his mouth.

"So this is your partner and you will be together for the next 2 weeks, you will have to get very close to them if you want to make a good enough team to pass!" She ended happily. A few students groaned in complaint whereas others, such as Butters and Bradley smiled broadly.

Pete, being the opposite of the 2 blonds, could not stop his rage from showing on his face.

 _TWO. WEEKS. TWO WEEKS WITH MIKE MAKOWSKI?!_

He glanced over at the boy in question expecting to see the same look of hate and disbelief that was showing on his own face reflected in his partners but all he saw was Mike looking down at his desk playing with his fingers with the same blush as this morning ghosting his cheeks.

Pete cocked an eyebrow, "fucker if you're ill tell me so I don't catch any of your shit" he said as he moved away slightly. Mike jumped a little at the sound of Pete's voice and looked at him questioningly, "what do you mean?" He mumbled back.

"Every time I look at your fucking face you're as red as that fucking fake blood you drink so I'm assuming it's a fever" Pete replied impatiently.

The blush on Mike's cheeks darkened and he averted his eyes, "I'm not... I'm not sick" he said quietly. Pete's eyes narrowed and he shifted in his seat, "well what the fuck?" He said, more of a question than a statement. Mike glanced back at him then sighed, "nothing, I guess I am pretty sick" he said before resting his chin on his hand and staring absentmindedly at the teacher.

Pete watched him for a minute, perplexed at his odd behaviour, then the teachers overly optimistic voice shattered the silence and caught his attention.

"Now that you've all spoken to your partners I will tell you what your project will be about, you will need to pick 3 works, such as short stories or poems or anything else you can think of, you can mix and match and you need to work together to interpret what you think they mean and any emotions you feel they portray, then you will share that with your partner and analyse each other using their emotions and opinions. Sounds fun right?!" She clapped her hands excitedly as she looked around the room, Pete simply rolled his eyes and huffed while Mike smiled slightly.

"There's still some time left so you should start discussing what you are going to choose to write about"

The class erupted in conversation once again, some about the work but most about Token's party he's apparently having at the weekend.

"Pete erm-" Pete turned to the source of the noise and stared at him coldly, "I was thinking we could do an act of a play maybe? Or maybe a Poe poem?" Pete continued to stare causing Mike to be uncomfortable and nervous, "they're just ideas we don't have to you can decide sorry" he said in one breath, Pete rolled his eyes again.

"What play did you have in mind?" He forced himself to ask, if he had no choice but to work with him he wasn't going to fail because of it.

Mike visibly brightened up, "well I was thinking like Macbeth because of the murder and insanity and sorrow, I think it's pretty cool" he said enthusiastically.

 _His eyes are fucking sparkling, why is he so excited about fucking Shakespeare._

Pete hummed in acknowledgment, a small smile tugged at the corners of Mike's mouth as he continued to rattle on about how twisted Macbeth is, Pete noticed the pink dusting his cheeks once again and caught the occasional glimpse of fake vampire teeth.

 _He's kind of cute when he's so exc-WHAT THE FUCK WAS I THINKING?! FUCKING NO! That thought was NOT going to EVER cross my mind._

The shock must have shown on Pete's face because Mike suddenly stopped what he was saying "are you ok?" He asked with concern showing in his voice.

Pete controlled his features and replied with a simple "fucking fine" which would have been convincing if his voice didn't crack slightly on the word fine.

Mike's hand reached out to touch Pete's forehead who, in return, flinched back so suddenly he knocked the chair beside him over earning him some stares from others in his class.

Mike stared for a moment too before apologising, "It was force of habit to check your temperature because I have to do it a lot for my little sister.. Sorry"

Pete calmed his slightly increased heartbeat and willed himself to cool down, "whatever" he mumbled before resting on his hand again and spacing out.

Mike decided to make notes for the last 10 minutes and not bother Pete.

Michael and Firkle were on the steps behind the school smoking by the time lunch rolled around, Michael had been there since second period while Firkle only arrived after fourth.

The younger of the 2 noticed that the older goth was smoking considerably more than usual, "Michael you might want to slow down a little, you'll be pissed if you run out and don't have any left later" he said before taking a drag from his own cigarette.

"Yeah well you might want to shut the fuck up and let me do what I want" he spat back, Firkle held his hands up in defeat as an apology then rotated his left hand and flipped him off, snickering.

Not long after, Pete came around the corner, the anger must have been noticeable on his face because Firkle sighed in exasperation and whined "not you too, I can't deal with 2 pissy bitches today" he then let his head fall against the brick wall behind him and he closed his eyes.

"Well I think I have the right to be fucking pissed when I have to work with that fucking vampire conformist for two fucking weeks!" He shouted before quickly taking out his own pack of cigarettes and lighting one while inhaling the relaxing toxins into his lungs. Feeling himself instantly relax he exhaled slowly, then sighed as he sunk to a sitting position beside his friends.

"Well that _is_ fucking shit man, don't let him try to bite you or anything" Firkle said before laughing to himself at the thought.

Pete flipped him off and Michael patted his shoulder slightly to show his condolences.

Henrietta soon showed up smiling and luckily alone, she was wearing her long black dress with spider web netting around her chest and shoulders, she had lost weight since middle school but she was still curvy "hey guys! Er, what's with the dark atmosphere, well, darker than usual atmosphere?" She said as she pulled out her skull embossed lighter and lit a smoke for herself after placing it in her cigarette holder.

"Well for starters Pete is stuck with vampire barbie for two weeks and you lef- ow!" He was cut off my Michael slapping his head nearly knocking him over. "What the fuck!" He said while rubbing his temple.

Henrietta narrowed her eyes slightly, "what _about_ me?" She asked accusingly, looking at each of them in turn.

No one said anything for a while before Michael finally growled "YOU left us this morning to go with your fucking conformist fuck boy" he docked out the end of his cigarette on the sole of his heavy black combat boot and swiftly lit another.

Henrietta stared at him in disgust and shouted back "he is NOT my fucking fuck boy you dick, he WAS our friend once in case you don't remember!" She now had her left hand on her plump hip.

Michael stood up now, "the only reason wannabe Raven's even fucking talking to you again is because he was dumped by his fucking queen for the millionth time! He's just fucking using you!" He yelled back, his cheeks now colouring with rage.

Henrietta watched his outburst and Pete noticed a flash actual hurt in her eyes, she mumbled a "fuck you Michael" and flipped him off before storming away back around the corner towards the front of school.

"Congratulations Michael you fucking dick" Pete said while Firkle clapped sarcastically.

Michael just sunk back down silently and continued smoking while staring into space.

Pete stood up and dusted off his pants before stalking after Henrietta, he knew she wouldn't go far so it didn't take long for him to catch up with her.

"Wanna skip and go to Tweeks?" He said as he slowed to a walk at her side. Pete had always been the closest to Henrietta, he was able to talk to her about anything without being judged and she knew she could tell him anything in exchange.

She turned and hugged him tightly which he instantly returned, "Michael's a dick Henry don't listen to him, he's just jealous that you aren't with him every second" she nodded into his chest and took and breath before moving away and smiling at him "so Tweeks?" She said happily. He nodded and they both headed to coffee heaven.

"He doesn't fucking know what he's talking about, Stan isn't using me at all, we aren't even fucking like that we're just friends" she huffed before taking a sip of her black coffee.

The strong smell of coffee surrounded them, there was also a hint of chocolate from the flavourings you could add and the baked goods you could purchase. It was intoxicating.

Pete nodded in understanding, "why _are_ you hanging out with Stan lately? I'm just curious" he said knowing that she would confide in him no matter what.

She placed her cup down on the table and looked straight into Pete's eyes for a second, then she smiled fondly and said "well he told me something, a secret of his, and I'm trying to help him out with it is all.." She said, Pete quirked an eyebrow "so one, you're telling me his secret and two, I know there's something else..." He thought for a moment while Henrietta took another sip of her caffeine fix, then he gasped slightly and grinned "you WANT to make Michael jealous!" Henrietta blushed slightly and sighed loudly, "yes ok?! Geez I was just using it to my advantage to test him" she rolled her eyes then smiled before adding "so it's working?" Pete laughed.

"Yes it fucking is, you should have seen him this morning! He went on such a massive fucking rampage when I asked where you were and he's nearly smoked a full pack already!"

Pete knew Henrietta liked Michael in a romantic sense, it was one of the things she had told him in confidence, at the time Pete came out and told her he was gay which she was more than fine with, it meant they could discuss how attractive different guys are together. With no female friend in the gang she hadn't been able to talk about any of that and if she mentioned it to Michael or Firkle she would be labeled a conformist, as would Pete if the others knew he had romantic feelings for anyone at all regardless of gender. They were goth; they weren't supposed to feel attraction or any positive emotions.

She laughed along with Pete, "now, what's Stan's secret?" He asked intrigued.

She thought for a moment, tapping her chin with her shiny black acrylic nail on her forefinger, "you know I won't tell anyone Henry!"

Henry was a nickname Pete had accidentally called her before which stuck, but he only called her it when it was just the two of them.

She beckoned him closer and lowered her voice to a whisper, he moved closer and she glanced around before whispering, "ok so you know like Stan and Wendy are always breaking up?" He nodded, also glancing around them "well.." She continued "the actual reason for that is because Stan won't go past the kissing stage with her" Pete's eyes widened in surprise, she nodded "he told me in complete secrecy that... he's gay." Pete's head shot back "no fucking way!" He shouted.

Henrietta shushed him and whispered "shut the fuck up you idiot! Do you want someone to fucking hear?!" She hissed, Pete looked around and noticed that the 3 other customers and Mr Tweek were all looking at him, he ducked his head and apologised.

"Sorry but oh my fucking God are you serious?!" She nodded in response "has he told you who he likes?!" She thought for a minute and nodded "oh my god fucking who?!" Pete was finally cheered up from his horrible day and couldn't hide his excitement over the new gossip, Stan was the captain of the football team and had been dating Wendy on and off since third grade so it came as a huge surprise to find out he liked men.

Pete always thought Stan had a nice body, he wasn't all muscle like the rugby players were, he just had toned leg muscles and, in Pete's opinion, a nice behind.

He only began noticing these things when Stan temporarily joined their gang and got dubbed Raven, at the time Pete was only just realising his sexual preference so he brushed off the attraction, but after the years that have passed he's now comfortable with secretly admiring the other guys body's.

"It's pretty obvious, which guy is Stan clearly the softest to?" Henrietta asked quietly with a sarcastic tone.

 _Who is Stan soft to? He's nice to pretty much everyone from what I've seen... But he's hardly ever apart from Kyle so I wouldn't really know..._ Realisation hit him, "FUCKING KYLE?!" he shouted while he jumped up slightly.

"Shut the FUCK up and sit the FUCK down you bitch!" Henrietta said louder this time, clenching her teeth. Noticing everyone looking at him again, Pete slowly sat back down blushing slightly.

"Sorry... But it's Kyle right?" He asked, quieter this time but still giddy.

Henrietta gave a slight almost unnoticeable nod with her head and Pete fell back against his chair, he stared at the ceiling for a second before facing Henrietta again.

"This is amazing, so what have you been doing with him? Aside from making Wendy _and_ Michael jealous" Pete asked, adding the last part in a humorous tone with a smirk.

"Well I've been trying to snatch him away when he's talking to Kyle and like when he gives me a ride on a morning he doesn't give Kyle one so basically I'm just trying to make Kyle jealous as well by stealing _his_ Stan" she said sounding proud and smiling.

Pete nodded then they both sat in a comfortable silence drinking their coffee and listening to the sounds of the shop; the faint calm music playing in the background, the frequent sound of paper against paper in the distance when middle aged man in another booth turned the page of his newspaper, and the idle chatter between to 2 young women sitting at a table eating waffles.

When both goths finished Henrietta recalled what Firkle had said earlier and asked Pete what the deal with ' _Dracubitch_ ' is.

Pete grimaced at the thought, "we got paired together on a stupid fucking English project for the next two weeks and I am pissed about it.." He slouched and leaned his chin on the palm of his hand, his straight fringe falling into his eyes.

"Ouch that must fucking suck, he being a dick about it too?" She said, concern evident in her voice.

"No he's been really weird, like he keeps blushing or something and he was being all quiet and letting me make all the decisions which I don't fucking care about anyway and shit" Pete recalled the thought he had when he last saw Mike blush and sat upright suddenly before noticing the confused look on Henrietta's face, he quickly tried to relax but she had already caught on that something was up.

"Something wrong?" She asked hesitantly, Pete thought for a second, wondering if he could tell her or not, he decided it wasn't something he needed to share right now.

"No I'm fine.." He said carefully while playing with his chipped black nails. Henrietta knew something was wrong but didn't press it further, he would tell her if it became important.

They stayed at the coffee shop talking until last lesson which they managed to turn up for on time, Pete had history and both Stan and Kyle were in his class so he couldn't help but keep glancing over and watching them both. He noticed that Kyle would stare at Stan for long periods of time before continuing his work then staring back at Stan again later as if he was trying to will other to look at him. Occasionally Pete would notice Stan's eyes flick to Kyle for a second before going back to ignoring him.

 _Now that Henrietta pointed it out it's painfully obvious that they like each other, just fucking kiss already!_

The lesson dragged on but eventually the bell rung and the wave of teenage zombies moved into the corridors.

Pete took his time packing his things away, he preferred not to get caught up in the mass of sweaty bodies pressing together.

By the time Pete left the classroom the amount of people in the corridor was dwindling so he easily made it to his locker, after he put his things away he shut his locker and turned to leave but he could feel someone's presence close by behind him.

"Pete!" He groaned recognising the slightly feminine chipper voice and turned around so he was facing the person who called him.

"What?" He asked annoyed, glaring at Mike.


	3. Strawberries

**Figured I'll just post randomly, it'll always be a surprise! There is a lot of background to Mike's character that you will find out over time, also The Damned are my favourite band so I had to include them!**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

 ** _"Pete!" He groaned recognising the slightly feminine chipper voice and turned around so he was facing the person who called him._**

 ** _"What?" He asked annoyed, glaring at Mike._**

"Erm I just figured you wouldn't want me to talk to you in front of your... Friends?... Anyway when do you want to work on the project? You could come to my place if you didn't want to be seen out together or whatever" Mike said while attempting to sound uninterested but giving away his nervousness by swiping some hair behind his right ear, revealing 5 more piercings, 3 helix rings and a ring and a stud on his earlobe.

 _I wonder how many piercings this guy has... 5 in his left ear , 2 in each eyebrow, 2 on his bottom lip.. That's already 11.._

"What the fuck are you babbling on about?" Pete said condescendingly.

Mike coughed slightly, "erm well we need to work on this project at some point, there won't be enough time in class..." He sighed "Look Pete I know you hate me but I'm not gonna fucking fail because you're being a child." Mike said as he put his hands on his hips and furrowed his brow.

 _Could he be more gay?_

Pete rolled his eyes, knowing that he would eventually be forced to meet up with him he gave in and agreed to going to his house "fine where do you live and when should I come around?" He asked sounding irritated, he thinks he sees Mike smile for a second but then it's gone.

 _I must have imagined it, neither of us should be fucking happy about this._

Mike gave Pete the address and told him to come around any time after half 5 so Pete decided 6 would have to do.

When Pete finally got home, he had to walk because Michael presumably got bored of waiting and left him, he went to his room and kicked his shoes off, he didn't have any homework so he put his iPod in the stand and played the album _Strawberries_ by _The Damned_ , it wasn't very goth so he kept it a secret to ensure no one else knew he liked them.

He flopped down on his bed and started quietly singing the words to _Ignite,_ he closed his eyes, not missing a single note, when that was over he started singing _Generals_ and got lost in the music.

He must have fallen asleep because when he opened his eyes again it was 6:06pm. He bolted upright and rubbed the drowsiness from his eyes, his iPod was still playing but it had changed albums and was now playing _Curtain Call_ ; this was one of his favourites.

He got up and stretched, then he grabbed his phone and iPod before shoving his shoes on and going downstairs.

His stomach growled loudly so he grabbed a Mars bar from the cupboard and set off walking to Mikes, he didn't hurry because he didn't want to be there anyway.

He checked his phone on the way and saw he had 2 missed calls, both from Henrietta.

He called her back to see if it was important. His rule was the if he misses the first call they should always try one more time just in case he was seconds away from picking up.

 _"Hello?"_ She answered.

"Oh hey Henry, I fell asleep and just saw your missed calls, what's up?" Pete said before blowing on his cold hands wishing he'd brought a jacket. He didn't realise that the air would be so chilly and was now regretting wearing only the thin t shirt he wore that day.

 _"Oh nothing important I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out, are you outside? What's that blowing?"_

"Yeah I forgot to grab a jacket and it's fucking cold, I'm on my way to count fuckulas to work on the project, ah don't tell the other two they'd take the piss" he groaned out.

 _"Oh God you have my condolences. I won't tell them, it's bad enough you have to meet him you don't need those two making it worse"_ Henrietta was actually really nice, she didn't deserve half the shit she got when she was younger.

"Thanks. Shit I'm nearly there, I'll call you later or text you or something to tell you how it goes" Pete said as he walked up the path towards Mike's front door. The fresh snow crunched beneath his feet with each step and soaked into his converse drowning his feet in liquid nitrogen.

 _"Ok fuckwad good luck"_ she said fondly before laughing, Pete smiled and said his goodbyes before putting the phone down and knocking.

A woman, presumably Mike's mother, answered the door. She smiled a little too brightly for Pete's liking and invited him in. She was a rather small woman, which was surprising based on Mike's height; she had dark brown-almost black hair cut short below her ears and styled in a partially spiked fashion, not only was her hairstyle young she herself looked to be in her mid thirties. Her clothing for the evening consisted of a black semi sleeved blouse and white cropped trousers with bare feet. He also noticed a small tattoo on her ankle but couldn't make out what it was.

"You must be Pete" she chirped, causing Pete to focus again "Mike's upstairs in his room, it's the last door on the left, well you'll probably be able to tell which it is anyway" she laughed to herself, "if you two need anything just let me know and I'll bring it right up".

Pete answered her politely before hesitantly trudging upstairs, when he reached Mike's door he knew why she said he'd be able to guess it was Mike's. It had been painted black and had red splashes of paint on, it had been done surprisingly neat but Pete still rolled his eyes.

He didn't bother knocking before he walked in because he wasn't used to having to knock with him being home alone most of the time, Mike was sat in a black computer chair at a black desk wearing only his black skinny jeans and with his back to Pete. As soon as Pete opened the door Mike shot up and turned to face him.

 _Was there something on his back?_

Pete scanned his bare torso and noticed a bleeding rose tattooed on his right bicep, he then looked at the opposite arm and saw a tribal tattoo looping around that bicep.

Before Pete could investigate further Mike picked a black t shirt up and covered himself effectively hiding his chest, "erm hi" he said before quickly pulling it on over his head.

"Yo... What's with the tattoos?" Pete asked now intrigued.

Mike blushed slightly and looked away, "erm I got one a while ago and kept craving more... It's kind of embarrassing don't tell anyone please" he said quietly before looking into Pete's eyes hoping he would agree.

Pete shrugged "I don't know why you'd be embarrassed but yeah sure whatever" he said nonchalantly.

Mike smiled and said thanks, he then indicated to Pete to sit anywhere so Pete sat on his bed and looked around the room.

It was similar to his own, mainly black and red except Mike had twilight posters up, Pete mentally gagged.

He also noticed a smaller poster on the wardrobe door, it was for _The Damned_ and made Pete's mouth twitch up in a smile for a second.

Mike noticed that he was staring and saw his mouth twitch, "you like The Damned?!" He blurted out expectantly.

Pete jumped slightly, "No! I've never even heard of them! They're probably some fucking vampire emo freaks!" he said, strongly denying it.

Mike grinned widely and moved over to Pete.

 _He must have changed his fangs since middle school because these one's look way realer._

"You do like them! You're even blushing! What's your favourite album?!" He asked excitedly, leaning in even closer towards Pete.

Pete could feel Mike's breath against his cheek and inched back slightly, Mike noticed and blushed before moving backwards himself.

"Sorry they're just my favourite band.. Mum tells me I get too carried away and passionate with things I like" He apologised before looking away.

They sat with an awkward silence enveloping them, the only sound being each other's level breathing.

"Strawberries" Pete said softly, breaking the silence.

Mike jumped to his feet, startling Pete, and all but ran to his desk without looking back, he rummaged through a drawer before returning to Pete.

He held out a CD for Pete to look at, it was _Strawberries_ but it had marks all over it, Pete didn't have the best eyesight, he refused to wear glasses though saying he didn't need them, so he had to adjust the distance of the case to see what they were, on closer inspection he realised they were signatures.

"No fucking way! Where did you get this?!" Pete said intensely, beaming up at Mike. Accidentally losing his cool composure and getting wrapped up in his own excitement.

"I went to see them live in England last year and I saw the band later that night and asked them to sign it! It was fucking amazing!" He replied eagerly, grinning like a maniac.

"I would seriously kill to see them live let alone actually meet them, you're so fucking lucky..." He looked back down at the CD in his hand with a wide grin before realising how engrossed he had gotten.

 _Shit... Why the fuck did I act like that in front of HIM of all people..._

He looked back up at Mike appearing to contemplate something for a moment, he sighed before saying "you can't fucking tell anyone that I like them, and I mean ANYONE" he said sternly.

Mike nodded in understanding "so... This is like our secret?" He said, another grin breaking out across his face revealing his fangs once again and a faint pink dusting his cheeks. Mike was just happy he finally got to have a real conversation with Pete without him acting all disinterested and angry all the time.

Pete rolled his eyes, "you're so gay, are we doing any English today?" He asked impatiently, picking at his nails and returning to his cold exterior.

"We don't... Have to... I mean we can but I really can't be arsed right now and I'd rather just chill and do nothing... If you actually wanna do work then we can or you could go home if you don't wanna hang here..." Mike said nervously, once again moving hair behind his ear; this time it was the left and in it he had a black wing stretcher, a weave piercing at the top of his ear and a tragus stud piercing.

 _That's 14 now.. Is that all? God he hides a lot even with his flamboyant personality. I guess it wouldn't be too bad to hang out for a while, I still hate him but I'd rather not have to see my mum right now..._

"I could hang out for a while... Can I smoke in here?" He asked suddenly craving a nicotine fix.

Mike raised his eyebrows and his eyes widened, "you-you'll stay?! Erm yeah sure you can smoke in here just open the window a bit" he said giddily, Pete narrowed his eyes at the taller teen but shrugged it off.

"Are you going to stand there all night?" Pete asked as he pulled out a cigarette and flipped his hair out of his eyes.

Mike watched with glazed eyes as Pete wet his lips with his tongue and placed the end of the cigarette between them.

"Uh.. What?.." He mumbled zoning out, "Oh! Erm no I'll sit down, wanna listen to some music?" He swiftly moved over to his CD player.

"You heard the Grave Disorder album?" He asked over his shoulder while shuffling through his magically bottomless drawer again.

Pete moved over to look in the drawer to see what kind of music he listened to, as soon as he was next to Mike the drawer slammed shut before he even saw what was inside. Pete jumped back in surprise and looked up at Mike.

"Oh sorry erm there's private erm things..." He said once again blushing and averting his gaze, now Pete was extremely curious but decided not to pressure him just yet.

"I get it, just put whatever on, I love Grave Disorder" he said before heading back to Mike's bed and laying down against the pillow while inhaling from his cigarette.

Mike was zoning out staring at him again, "you know smoking's bad for you.." He said while his tongue quickly darted out to wet his own lips, Pete just exhaled a cloud and flipped him off in response.

Mike tore his gaze away to put the CD in, hitting play he sat back down in his computer chair and leaned his head back closing his eyes.

"How many piercings do you have?" Pete asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Oh like.. Erm 18 I think" Mike drawled out, now relaxed and sinking into the music, the song currently playing was _'Til The End Of Time_ ' he gently rocked his chair, spinning it slowly back and forth with his legs.

Pete lifted his head up to look at him, "18?! Where? There's like 8 in your ears and 6 on your face so that's 14 where are the others?" He was sitting up now and throwing his cigarette butt out of the window, it sizzled in the snow beneath. Mike smiled to himself happy that Pete had been paying so much attention to him.

He watched Mike, who still had his eyes closed, anticipating an answer, the initial reply he got was Mike sticking his tongue out to reveal a tongue piercing.

Pete stood up and walked over to him, when he was close enough he saw that it was a silver skull, Mike opened his eyes now and blushed slightly before closing his mouth.

"Where are the other 3?" Pete asked, still curious.

Mike smirked "now they, are private" then he winked which caused Pete's cheeks to heat up before he scoffed and sat back on the bed, leaning back on his arms.

 _I really want to know where they are... Why did he wink? Why did I fucking blush?! Whatever_

"How many tattoos do you have?" He asked, thinking about the rose and tribal tattoo and recalling seeing something, possibly another hidden tattoo, on his back.

"Like, about 7 or 8, I had 2 done separately but one is overlapping the other so they could be classed as one or whatever" Mike said, relaxing back into his chair and closing his eyes again.

There was a silent heartbeat, only the music filling the air then, "Can I see them?" Pete asked suddenly without realising, even surprising himself in the process.


	4. Tattoos and Texting

**Hi guys! I'm really sorry for not updating but something happened with my Wi-Fi and they just fitted a new router for us today so I can finally update. Because I left you guys for so long and on a cliffhanger no less I will post 2 chapters! Thank you for your reviews they really boost my confidence and motivate me to write more so thank you so much I really appreciate it! Now, on with the story :)**

Mike's eyes shot open and his cheeks flushed. "W-what? Yeah s-sure… erm one is like private? And you would fucking laugh at me for it but erm the others like if-if you want?" He said now sitting up and scratching the back of his head.

"Well I saw the rose and the tribal thing on your arms" Pete said absently, now running his right hand through his fringe, feeling quite unlike himself.

Mike stood up and grabbed the hem of his shirt, "I'll erm just take this off then..."

Pete stared as he pulled the thin black t shirt over his head in one slow motion revealing his pale torso, Pete didn't notice it before but Mike actually had a pretty nice body, he wasn't overly muscley but he wasn't fat or all bones either, he was better than Stan like he just.. _perfect._

Pete's eyes widened at the thought.

 _Fuck not again.. This is Mike fucking vamp Makowski.. He is NOT attractive and he is definitely NOT perfect._

He looked over him again and noticed a small tattoo above his right nipple but he couldn't tell what it was properly so he moved across the room closer to Mike who was now turning considerably pink.

"Oh well that should've been obvious" he mumbled to himself when he saw that the tattoo was holes from a vampire bite with blood leaking out.

When he looked down he noticed another hidden piercing "aha! Bellybutton piercing!" Pete called when he saw the piercing with a black feather hanging below, similar to the one in his ear, resting on a faint trail of hair leading down into his jeans.

Mike's blush darkened "y-yeah" he laughed nervously "2 left" he said smiling slightly.

Pete could see black marks coming from the top of his jeans on his left side, "is that another tattoo?" He asked glancing up at Mike's face and only now realising how furiously he was blushing, "erm you can put your shirt back on if you want, I'm not forcing you if you're uncomfortable.." Pete said only now realising that he may have crossed the other teens comfort zone. He was used to being around topless guys because he, Michael and Firkle generally took their tops off at some point when they drank.

"No no I'm fine, and yeah that's another" he pulled his jeans down slightly, just enough to show most of the tattoo, which was a black raven feather with the tip splitting off and turning into birds in flight which went up most of his side, in the process he also showed a lot of his prominent v line, _Well that's fucking sexy... WAIT THIS IS STILL MIKE! It doesn't matter if you like V lines because it is fucking FANG BANGER AND YOU HATE HIM!_

Pete blushed slightly at his stupid thoughts but brushed them away because he was distracted when he thought he caught a glimpse of something else below the tattoo just before Mike pulled his pants back up but he didn't get chance to see what it was.

Mike then pulled his pants down slightly on the other side to show off another set of fang bites dripping with blood going down his hip bone.

He was about to put his t shirt back on when Pete stopped him, "what about your back?" Mike looked shocked for a moment before hesitantly saying "h-how did you know about my back?"

Pete cocked his head to the side slightly "when I came in I thought I saw something, so it was true?" He asked once again curious, he seemed to be very interested in his new English partner.

Mike sighed "yeah I have something on my back I guess.. But move back a bit before I turn around please.." Pete held his hands up and moved back.

Mike turned around fully and Pete gasped. Mike's entire back was tattooed, he could see what he meant by 2 tattoos on top of each other, initially Mike appeared to have a tattoo of ripped flesh revealing his intricate spine and ribs but over that he had a pair of detailed black angel wings. They were both beautiful and Pete could only stare in awe.

A few heartbeats later Mike turned back around and blushed before quickly putting his shirt back on.

"So yeah..." He said awkwardly, shuffling on his feet.

Pete grinned "they're fucking cool man, you're not as bad as I thought, aside from these shitty twilight posters" he said while rolling his eyes at the images of Edward and Jacob all over the walls.

Mike beamed, Pete was actually smiling and complimenting him and not acting cold!

"You're pretty cool too!" he said before adding "erm don't tell anyone about my tattoos please.. I try to hide them at school and from others, my dad doesn't even know I have them yet..." As he rubbed the back of his head.

Pete chuckled " I saw one on your mums ankle so I'm guessing she's ok with tattoos" then he added "so this'll fucking be another one of our secrets?" he said playfully.

Mike smiled "yeah I guess so".

They got comfortable again, now both sitting on Mike's bed leaning against the wall letting the music surround them.

"So which of those tattoos was private?" Pete asked casually with his eyes closed. He didn't see that Mike's cheeks once again set ablaze.

"I didn't show you my _private_ one but maybe another time I will" He replied, trying to keep his voice calm but it just came out seductively in Pete's opinion.

Pete hummed in agreement and they both sat in a comfortable silence.

They talked about music more and other things until it was almost 9:00pm then Pete decided he should go home.

Pete washed his makeup off and laid on his bed staring at his patchy black ceiling, it wasn't neatly painted like Mike's door.

What he had just done gradually soaked in.

 _Wait... Why the fuck did I just hang out with him fucking happily as if we were like_ friends _or some shit?! What is wrong with me._

He was holding his mobile in his hand with Henrietta's number on the screen, he groaned and hit dial, she picked up after 3 rings.

 _"Hey Petey, how'd your date go?"_ Her pleasant voice teased through the device.

"It WASNT a date and... Weird..." Pete insisted.

 _"Why weird? Did he bite you?"_ She laughed at the last part but Pete remained silent.

"Henry... It's..." He groaned in frustration as it dawned on him "I'm attracted to the fucking vamp bitch!" He whined then scowled and put his forearm over his eyes.

 _"Oh..."_ It was silent for a moment, Pete counted 4 heartbeats then Henrietta spoke again, _"you can't help who you like Pete, don't beat yourself up over it"_ she said comfortingly, Pete smiled wishing she was there in person so he could hug her.

"What if Michael finds out and fucking kicks me out of the gang? I don't WANT to like him but he has all his fucking tattoos and piercings and his body is so fucking perfect and he's so flirty when he's not even trying and we have stuff in COMMON and ugh!" Pete rambled on as he rolled onto his stomach and kicked his shoes off, finally admitting his own feelings to himself.

 _"Wait wait, firstly; he has TATTOOS?! Where? And why have YOU seen them? Secondly; you have never spoken that much about any guy before God I'm sorry but you got it for him bad.."_

Pete scrunched his eyes closed, "yeah... I think I do... But it's been like one fucking day so I don't know maybe I'm just like confused and he DOES have tattoos like on his chest and hip and arms and oh my god and his back is fucking amazing... But there's one he says is _private_ and he 'might show me one day' like, that's hot" Pete said, grinning at the memory.

 _"I kind of want to see them but they can be your little secret baby"_ she laughed " _maybe hang out with him again and see if you feel any different and if not then whatever it's not like you'll automatically be going out with him so we can just keep it between us, sound ok?"_ Henrietta always knew how to cheer Pete up, he smiled and let out a sigh of relief before agreeing, they spoke a little longer about Stan and how she's getting a lift with him tomorrow because she doesn't want to see Michael then they said their goodbyes.

 _When did I start feeling like this? I'm so fucking annoyed. Why does he have to be so fucking nice?! Where's the other piercings... What's the private tattoo... They couldn't be_ down there _right? ... No way! He wouldn't do that. I really hope that next time I see him I don't feel like this..._

Pete dozed off and eventually got sucked into the black abyss of sleep.

Pete made it to school with little event, only the usual sound of Michael shouting about everything and Firkle sitting in silence.

He walked up to his locker and got what he needed, when he turned around Mike was waiting there smiling, his fangs poking out, then his smile faltered and he quickly glanced around to make sure none of Pete's goth friends were around. Coming to the conclusion that they were all at their own classes he turned back to Pete.

"I found this CD I wanted to lend you" he rummaged around in his bag before pulling out a black CD case. "They're called The Lords of The New Church and I think you'll like them, oh you might not have a CD player erm" Mike looked at Pete and blushed faintly.

Pete took the CD from his hands "I do have a CD player, I'll listen to it tonight" he said with a small smile playing on his lips, he forced his mouth to freeze before giving anything away.

"Great!" Mike said, beaming with joy "when do you actually want to work on English because we won't be doing anything in lesson today so... You could come to mine again like tomorrow if you want?.." He added the last part quietly as if he was afraid of being judged for suggesting it.

"Yeah that's fine- shit! No sorry I can't" he said, realising showing on his face "I'm practicing with the band tomorrow so I can't.. How about you come to mine on Thursday or something?" He offered, noticing Mike's smile fall when he said he couldn't make it.

His face split into a wide grin and his blush darkened, "yeah yeah that would be fine, erm where do you live and what time? Oh I know just give me your number and I'll text or something" Mike pulled out his mobile phone and waited in anticipation.

"It's erm 07XX-XXXX-XXX, you got it?" Pete shuffled on his feet.

"Yep! I'll text you later" Mike said with a wink before sauntering off, Pete's eyes trailed down his back ending on his ass, the dark red skinnies he chose today definitely did him justice. He quickly turned around and headed to his own class, trying to block the image of Mike's firm behind out of his thoughts.

In second lesson, IT, Pete was sat next to Henrietta at the back, he was telling her about how Michael threw another tantrum in the morning when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

He looked confused for a moment, as did Henrietta knowing that she was mainly the only one who texted Pete, he threw a glance in the teacher's direction before fishing his phone out of his tight black pocket. It was an unknown number.

He held it by his keyboard so the teacher would think he was reading someone on the computer screen or typing.

 _'Pete I'm so bored, this teacher is fucking booring and Kyle is totally checking Stan out every 2 seconds with me in between them. Save me._

 _\- Mike'_

Pete's mouth twitched and Henrietta swiped his phone out of his hand, smirking when she saw who it was.

She looked knowingly at Pete who rolled his eyes, "you're already texting?" She asked suggestively.

"I JUST a gave him my number this morning to organise working on English on fucking Thursday, how did I know he would text me instantly?!" Pete replied defensively, Henrietta held up her hands in defeat and started typing something on Pete's phone.

"What are you doing?!" He asked as he snatched his phone back, but it was too late she had sent a reply to him and was giggling to herself.

Pete quickly went to his sent messages and opened the most recent one.

 _'I know a few ways I could entertain you ;)_

 _\- Pete x'_

He shoved Henrietta, "you fucking did NOT send him that!" He hissed furiously. He quickly typed out another message explaining that Henrietta took his phone without permission and that he didn't send that.

A few minutes later he got a reply.

 _'What a shame.. So you got overpowered by a girl? Pussyy lol'_

Pete's brow knitted together and his cheeks heated up slightly.

 _What a shame? What did he mean by that? Did he want it to be from me?_

Pete's thoughts were interrupted by Henrietta once again stealing his phone and reading the message.

"He is fucking flirting back! Oh my god he totally likes you! You should definitely carry this on!" She started typing something out so Pete snatched it off her again, now blushing more noticeably.

"No. That would make it fucking awkward for the next 2 weeks so fuck off" he grumbled before seeing what she started typing.

 _'Awh were you disappointed it wasn't me? I'd rather get overpow'_

"'I'd rather get overpowered by you'?! That's what you were going to put isn't it? God Henrietta" he complained while erasing what she wrote in favour of _'Have you met Henrietta?! She's stronger than most guys."_

"God you know it's true, you're so fucking boring" she huffed while picking her nail polish and tapping away at her keyboard pretending to work but instead just writing _Pete loves Mike_ over and over

"I don't care if it's true, he doesn't need to know that" he growled before sighing in aggravation and erasing what she had typed on her computer screen because God knows who might see that by accident even if they are at the back.

Henrietta laughed and they continued to pretend to listen to the lesson, Pete ignored his phone when it vibrated again.

At break time Henrietta told Pete that she still didn't want to see Michael and to tell Firkle she'd call him later. They separated and Pete headed to the usual spot.

Firkle was already there, when he heard Pete coming he looked up, Pete could see the hope in his eyes extinguish when he saw who it was approaching.

"Henrietta isn't coming today, she still doesn't wanna see fucktard but she told me to tell you she's going to call you later so you can hang out" Pete said tentatively, Firkle was great at acting like them, like he didn't care, but he was still only in middle school and Henrietta had always been like his big sister. He visibly brightened up at that but shrugged his shoulders acting nonchalant.

They sat together smoking till Michael turned up, his expression didn't change when he saw Henrietta wasn't there.

He leaned against the wall and retrieved a smoke from his pocket, inhaling and exhaling slowly.

"Henrietta isn't coming today because of you" Firkle jabbed, both Pete and Michael knew that Firkle was actually upset over it but they didn't say anything.

Pete decided to check his phone and saw he had 4 messages, unsurprisingly all from Mike.

He sighed and opened the first.

 _'Yes I have seen Henrietta and she seems like a beautiful, strong, independent woman who can easily beat a weakling like you ;P'_

He smiled at the thought of what Henrietta's reaction would be if she saw that.

 _'Am I in her good books now? lol'_

Pete chuckled softly

 _He would definitely not be in her good books from that lame compliment._

He was more surprised when he opened the next message which was sent five minutes after the first 2.

 _'Where have you gone? Don't ignore me! You were supposed to save me from my boredom!.'_

Pete smiled warmly thinking it was cute that he wanted attention, then he realised where he was and who he was with so he glanced at the other two who were seemingly uninterested in what Pete was doing or what expressions he was making as they were both staring into space.

He read the next message which was sent three minutes after the last.

 _'Fine ignore me, I don't need you! Hmph._

 _I'll be fine by myself! (x)'_

Pete smiled again at how needy he was being.

 _He has other friends he could've texted, and what the fuck are those faces_ he thought as he laughed quietly to himself.

As he Finished reading the last message his phone buzzed in his hand, he looked at the newest message.

 _'Ok I'm sorry, I lied. I'm NOT fine by myself I'm super lonely so replyyy!'_

Pete smiled and quickly typed out a reply,

 _'Sorry I just looked at my phone, you have all your followers around you all the time yet you're lonely when I don't reply to a text message? Oh how cute you poor little thing ;)'_

Then he hit send. Suddenly his body went cold.

 _What the fuck did I just send him oh my god... I wasn't even thinking, how could I have sent him that?! What's he going to think?! I have to find Henrietta_

He fumbled with his phone till he managed to dial Henrietta, he held the phone to his ear with a shaky hand and took a deep drag from his cigarette with his other.

"H-Henry where are you?" He asked with an unsteady voice as he rose to his feet, the other two looked at him quizzically.

 _"Under the bleachers smoking why what's up? You sound weird"_

He heard her say, her voice calming him somewhat, he took a breath then took another drag before answering her.

"I'm coming, stay there" he said as he dropped the rest of his cigarette onto the snow.

 _"What's wrong?"_ She's asked, concern lacing her words now clearly worried.

"I just really need to talk to you, bad. Just wait for me" he pleaded, sounding very needy and strange.

He put the phone down and walked away from the other two leaving them mildly interested.

"Henry?" Michael asked without moving.

"What a gay nickname" Firkle concluded.


	5. Man Up Michael

**Here is the promised extra chapter, finally going to fix Michael's rage and get the gang back together!**

Pete half ran to the bleachers in search of Henrietta, when he finally found her his hair was dishevelled and his cheeks were pink from his usual lack of exercise.

Henrietta's eyes widened, "holy shit what happened?!" She asked hurriedly, dragging Pete under the bleachers with her.

He handed her his phone while he caught his breath and she read Mike's last four messages, she's didn't understand why he would be so flustered over them so she waited till he'd calmed down and handed him back the phone.

He flicked through it and brought up the last message he sent then handed it back to her, he bit his nails anxiously while she read it, when her eyebrows rose he groaned and put his head in his hands covering his eyes.

"Well..." She started, "you flirted a bit, called him cute, and sent a… winking face..." She looked up at him and saw his defeated and depressed demeanour, "Pete it isn't that bad stop being a bitch" with that he sat up and took a deep breath.

"I wasn't even paying attention to what I was putting, then before I realised I'd already sent it and it's been so long and he hasn't replied" Pete whimpered.

The phone then vibrated in Henrietta's hand then, causing them both to jump slightly.

They looked each other in the eyes and she warily opened the new message,

 _'Yeah I am cute and YOU should stop letting Henrietta take your phone Pete, I wanna talk to you not her...'_

The black haired girl scoffed and handed the phone back to Pete, "there's nothing to worry about Petey, calm your tits" she laughed before taking out a fresh cigarette.

He dubiously read the message, his eyes flicked across the screen and he sighed, he didn't know himself whether he was relieved or disappointed.

He was glad it wasn't going to be awkward between them but he was partially hoping that Mike would show some interest in him even if it was just fooling around over text.

He typed up another reply; this time reading it over to make sure he didn't put anything embarrassing and sent it.

 _'Sorry, it's me for real this time...'_

Only seconds after sending it he got a reply. Henrietta was watching him as she saw his features turn from worry, to surprise, to anticipation, she found it amusing and decided not to disturb him.

 _'Can't I come to yours tonight? Thursday is so far away... We can listen to the CD I lent you and I'll start the English'_

Pete thought for a moment, deciding what to do.

 _Is it too soon? Would it seem weird if we hung out again I mean we JUST did yesterday..._

He glanced up at Henrietta as if the answer would be plastered across her face but she just tilted her head to the side slightly and raised an eyebrow, his phone buzzed again and he looked back down at it.

 _'Please?'_

Pete's mouth quirked up in a smile he couldn't suppress and he typed his reply, now determined.

 _'If you must, there's no reason for me to say no'_

"Awwwh is cute Petey's cute boyfriend Mikey being cute and making him smile?" Henrietta teased elatedly before giggling to herself.

Pete glared at her but the blush on his cheeks made her laugh more, "shut up Henrietta he just said he's coming over tonight is all." Pete stated not able to contain the tinge of happiness in his voice.

"Don't fuck too hard we have practice tomorrow remember and you won't be able to play if you can't stand up straight" she laughed out gleefully. Before Pete could retaliate the bell went to signal next lesson, the both got up and Pete pushed her shoulder as they walked towards their classes.

"You know we have English now right?" Henrietta mentioned as they walked down the corridor, Pete's eyes darted in her direction as his step faltered.

"I forgot that... Why was he texting me so much then when we have English together now anyway?!" He said, accusing no one in particular. Henrietta smiled knowingly, enjoying watching her best friend obliviously worry about love.

They separated when Pete reached his class and he stepped inside, there was already a lot of people there and they were already partnered up so he headed in the direction of his own partner.

The teen in question was doodling absentmindedly in his notebook so Pete moved almost silently over to him, careful not to alert the other of his presence.

He got as close as he could to Mike without being obvious and leaned down towards his exposed ear.

"BOO!" he shouted, well spoke loudly because Pete can't really shout, startling the other, the reaction he received was priceless.

"WAH?!" Mike shouted in alarm as his arms twitched violently and ultimately threw his pen in the air which ended up hitting Cartman on the head.

The large teen quickly spun around, "EY?! Who threw that?!" He called but no one was listening, the rest of the class were all too busy talking about whatever they were talking about.

Pete on the other had had to look away and quickly sit down because he couldn't contain his laughter, he put his hand over his mouth to muffle the sounds but he couldn't stop entirely.

Mike laughed somewhat, he did find it funny but he was so absorbed in watching Pete because it was so rare that he laughed in front of others.

"He has a red mark! Fucking fat conformist deserved it but look at his cheek!" He said through his laughter, Mike glimpsed back over to Cartman and saw a black line going down his cheek with a red hue around it, now he also started laughing, no one liked Cartman so anything bad that happens to him is welcomed by all.

When their laughter finally settled down Mike pushed Pete's shoulder.

"You fucking prick! I hate you for doing that!" He complained while wiping his moist eyes, careful this time not to smudge his eye makeup.

"You totally shit yourself fagpire I can't believe it" Pete laughed joyfully at the others misfortune.

Mike frowned slightly at the name but smiled again almost instantly, "it's Mike actually but you've never called me that so I guess it would be weird to start now, hey can I just walk home with you after school?" He asked excitedly, his eyes gleaming with hope.

Pete was taken aback for a moment, no one had ever really walked home with him before apart from Henrietta and that was only on rare occasions.

He flipped his hair out of his eyes and nodded his head slowly, Mike laughed at his strange behaviour "What are you doing? Is that a yes then?" He laughed again but it was more like a girly giggle.

Pete cleared his throat, "er yeah sure, my mum probably won't be home though so you won't meet her, I feel like that's something you would want to do" Pete mocked, Mike played along feigning hurt but before they could continue the teacher came in and cleared her throat.

"Ok class today we will just be continuing our projects, I will come around and see what your first writing is that you are going to interpret, it's ok if you don't have one yet though so don't fret!" She smiled, as bubbly as ever.

Pete rolled his eyes and leaned his head against his crossed arms on the table in front of him. He stared up at Mike watching him for a while just sitting there staring off into space.

 _I never noticed how long his eyelashes are... His eyes are so blue as well... I wonder what it would feel like to kiss him and play with his tongue piercing..._ Pete's eyes widened at the risqué thought and he turned to hide his now blushing face.

 _What the fuck Pete..._

"Are you feeling ok Peter? Would you like to go to the nurse?" An overly effeminate tender voice said above him, he sat up straight and looked at the teacher.

"No thank you Miss I feel fine" he mumbled as politely as he could muster.

She looked unconvinced, "are you sure? Your face is awfully red" she said gently as if talking to a child, Pete sighed.

"No ma'am I'm fine, really" he forced himself to say, his glance in Mike's direction went unnoticed luckily.

"Ok if you say so, well have you two decided on anything yet?" She said brightly, smiling just as brilliantly, but it was evident that she didn't expect much from them.

Mike began saying that they hadn't thought of anything yet when Pete cut him off, "yes actually we were going to do a scene from Macbeth" he stated decisively.

The teacher looked impressed, "well you're the first group so far to have decided on something and might I say I think you picked a great one, it's very emotional and there's so much to pick from it! _'Is this a dagger which I see before me? It's handle towards my hand?_ " she said, beginning to quote a scene from Macbeth.

" _'Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not but I see thee still'_ " a strangely husky voice beside Pete finished the quote, the teacher clapped her hands excitedly and a grin broad across her face aimed towards Mike before she pranced away to the next group.

"... You can quote Shakespeare?" Pete said incredulously.

Mike blushed and looked away, "erm yeah some bits... I told you I thought Shakespeare was interesting!" He said the last part defensively, his voice back to its girly tone, and looked back towards Pete with a defiant look on his face.

Pete laughed a little before routing through his bag in search of his notebook, "ok whatever you say, calm down blood sucker"

They spent the rest of the lesson discussing which scene in Macbeth they were going to do Well, it was mainly Mike telling Pete about all the scenes and Pete seeming to be uninterested when actually he was just engrossed with watching Mike's lips move and imagining playing with his piercings.

 _I am way more gay than he is..._

Pete decided to skip next lesson and go out for a smoke instead, he couldn't concentrate properly when all he could think about was his vampire.

Not long after he had lit up his first smoke Henrietta showed up much to his surprise, "hey bitch" he called before she had chance to greet him.

"Hey faggy fang fucker" she said before lighting her own cigarette in her holder.

"Ouch, that was harsh" he opposed, she just smiled and flipped him off.

They smoked in silence for a while, Pete eventually piped up again, "so are you coming to practice tomorrow?" He asked, hoping that she was, she stayed quiet as if thinking about it, "Firkle misses you already you know" he added in an attempt to persuade her.

She always had a soft spot for Firkle, hugging him when he was particularly down or taking him out places if something bad happened.

Her expression turned upset, "yeah I'll come" there was still 40 minutes till lunch, Henrietta pulled out her phone and dialled something then put it to her ear.

"Hey Firkle, come around back, I wanna see you before I have to leave at lunch" she said while exhaling some smoke, luring the youngest goth out of class. It wouldn't take much to persuade Firkle to leave class, he does it all the time anyway.

A few minutes later a familiar small black figure rounded the corner and headed towards them, Henrietta enveloped him in a hug and kissed the top of his head before releasing him, he didn't hug back and pretended to not care but a blush was threatening to darken on his cheeks.

She smiled at Firkle affectionately "I'm coming to practice tomorrow ok? I might come here at lunch too if I think Michael has stopped being a huge dick about everything" she said comfortingly while smoothing his hair down which caused the thirteen year-old to brighten up a little and a smile to toy with his lips.

They spoke about random things for the rest of the period, Firkle asked what was up with Pete earlier before he ran off to ' _Henry',_ Henrietta complained that Pete used her nickname in front of the other guys, Pete said he didn't remember what he said and told Firkle not to worry about it and that he was fine.

When there was still 10 minutes left till lunch Henrietta decided it was time for her to go so she didn't bump into Michael, she said goodbye and began walking away, as she rounded the corner there was an audible _'bump'_ and a loud "Fuck!", Pete and Firkle looked at one another before going to investigate.

The scene they saw was a spilled cup of coffee on the floor and a partially wet Michael and Henrietta.

"Ah shit sorry" Henrietta said, sounding sarcastic and unreal, then she continued walking away again.

"Wait Henrietta! I'm..." She stopped but didn't turn around, the curly haired goth sighed "I'm.. Uh I'm fucking sorry ok?! Can you just come back?!" He ended up shouting at her causing her to ignore him and continue walking, however he grabbed her wrist effectively stopping her again. She spun around on her heel to face him. " _What_ Michael?" She spat, "you want me to come back so you can ridicule me, criticise me, call me names like I haven't had enough of that already?! And why?! Because you hate Stan and think we're fucking?! There is no way in hell that we are but if we were why is that any of you-" she was cut off.

Michael's lips harshly pressed against hers, she closed her eyes and pressed back, fisting the collar of his jacket. They kissed for what seemed like years, especially to Firkle and Pete who were still at the sidelines awkwardly trying not to watch their two best friends going at it.

They eventually pulled apart to breath but remained close so their noses were still touching, "that was erm.." Michael began, feeling flustered for the first time in his life, the others noticed, "I erm that... You..." He trailed off not knowing what to say.

Henrietta pulled his mouth back towards hers "it's about fucking time you dick" she growled, her breath feathering across his lips, she then passionately pressed her lips against his, her hands getting tangled in his hair and his hands falling to her hips, pulling her closer.

"Ok well this is great and all but I'm just gonna.. You know.. Not watch this disgusting porn display between you guys" Pete said, sounding disgusted before going back to their usual sitting place.

Firkle made fake gagging sounds before swiftly leaving the scene and following Pete.

Michael and Henrietta were unfazed by the others leaving or being there in the first place and Henrietta pushed Michael against the wall, deepening the kiss.

They separated once again for air "what about Stan?" Michael carefully asked while panting slightly.

Henrietta smiled at him, "you dick I told you were aren't together" she said before kissing him gently again, "I was just helping him with something" she said moving to his neck and kissing softly.

She kissed him once more on the lips before removing herself from him and heading back towards the other guys, when she returned Pete gave her a thumbs up and she winked at him mouthing the words 'it worked'. Not soon after Michael returned and everything was mostly normal, they telepathically decided not to show affection in front of the other two.


	6. YOU'RE BLOND?

**Time for Mike to go to Pete's house! I wonder what could happen here...**

The end of the day came too soon for Pete, he had double art last on a Tuesday and it was his favourite lesson so he was always reluctant to leave once he was focused on whatever he might be working on that day.

The teacher rarely spoke to them in that class as it was mainly independent work and there was only 6 other students who attended because it was an optional subject.

It allowed Pete to express himself freely without being judged and if he was tired or just unmotivated he could sleep the entire lesson away because as long as he finished his work by the deadline the teacher didn't care when or where they did it.

He usually used his hands to do everything, in Pete's mind he had no need for a paintbrush when he had fingers, more often than not he ended up with his hands completely coated in a layer of colour.

The project he was currently working on was an A3 canvas which he could use any medium to create an image relating to a story/tale of some kind. He had finished his background already the week before, it consisted of a mass of black and green entangled together, swirling and dancing perfectly.

Today he had decided to add a variety different sized feathers in as many shades of red that he could find or make, they were scattered about the picture in an organised chaos.

He had collected an assortment of red paints and began working, even using his fingers alone he was able to create such detailed images without any smudges or mistakes. He was so engrossed in his art that he didn't notice the lesson had already come to an end.

He was only pulled out of his reverie when a hand gently touched his shoulder.

He stopped what he was doing and instantly glared up at the figure, pointy fangs grinned down at him, "you were concentrating so hard you didn't hear me calling your name, what are you making?" Mike asked before curiously viewing the image, his mouth opened but no words came out.

Pete quickly held his arms out above the image, careful not to touch the wet paint but still effectively hiding it from peering eyes.

"It's not finished yet, you can't see" he said while blushing faintly and looking away.

The grin was once again plastered across Mike's face, "you have to promise to show me first when it's finished then!" He beamed enthusiastically.

Pete rolled his eyes, "whatever homosforatu" he said before rising to his feet and carefully carrying his painting to the drying board while still hiding it from view.

Mike also rolled his eyes but continued smiling nonetheless, he was especially ecstatic today because he was going to go to Pete's house. Never in his life did he imagine he would be invited willingly to Pete's house, it was so unlikely. The vampires and the goths were like the Montagues and the Capulets, not that Mike and Pete were anything like Romeo and Juliet of course. The vampire blushed slightly at his wandering thoughts, he had to stop reading Shakespeare.

When Pete was ready and had all his things together they headed to his house, he didn't bother with his locker because he barely had anything in his bag anyway and he wasn't doing any homework apart from English.

As they walked a few people turned and stared at them as they made their way through the car park and down the street, one of which was Stan, he watched them walking together with a look of bewilderment, probably because he remembered how much Pete used to complain about the vampires and was wondering why two people who hate each other would be walking together so chummily.

Pete looked at him and smiled knowingly, thinking about him and Kyle, Stan quickly smiled back and did a little wave speculating that Pete was smiling to be friendly but the latter just ignored him and looked away.

"Oh look it's Stan Marsh, don't you think he totally has the hots for Kyle? It's obvious they want to fuck each other, the sexual tension is suffocating when you're near them" Mike said, frowning slightly and sticking his tongue out between his fangs.

Pete laughed a little louder than he should have, finding it hilarious that Mike could easily see what he couldn't until Henrietta told him. "Yeah I thought so too, you think there's something between Craig and Clyde too? Like Craig hardly talks to anyone else and he only ever smiles around Clyde" he conversed, pointing out how close the other two boys were.

Mike thought for a moment, looking up towards the sky humming before replying, "I never noticed that, but they _have_ been friends since before I moved here so maybe Craig just trusts him?" He said thoughtfully, "oh wait! A while ago I saw them outside the basketball court and Clyde hugged Craig but he got pushed away and Craig was blushing! I couldn't hear what they were saying though so I just thought Clyde was taking the piss" he said giddily, Pete laughed in response.

"Oh my fucking God they are so together, there are so many gays in South Park I didn't even realise" he replied. Mike looked down towards the snow beneath their feet, hiding a hurt expression.

"Yeah I guess so..." He looked up then, facing straight ahead and worrying his lip for a moment, "I don't have a problem with homosexuals though so it's whatever" he said tentatively, hoping to elicit a positive, agreeable response from his gothic companion.

Pete looked at him for a second before also looking forwards at nothing in particular, "yeah me either, no one chooses their sexuality and it's none of my business who people like", Mike smiled at that, secretly feeling relieved.

"Oh! Cool!" Mike exclaimed as they arrived at Pete's house.

" _'Cool'_? No one's ever said that about my house before, it's just a house... You're so weird" Pete replied bashfully as he awkwardly fiddled with the key in the door.

As they walked in the smell of coffee wafted towards them, Pete hooked his bag on the bottom of the banister and walked towards the small oak kitchen, "want anything?" He asked as he began preparing himself a cup of coffee.

Mike was too busy investigating the house to reply, the living room had a large flat screen tv and a large black leather corner sofa, the walls were decorated with an assortment of photographs, most of which were of a young couple who appeared to be very much in love, the woman was beautiful and had honey blond hair whereas the man had a chiseled jawline, chocolate brown hair and deep, piercing green eyes.

As Mike was leaving the living room and moving towards the kitchen he spotted another photo, it was smaller that the rest and sat on an end table behind the sofa.

He glanced towards the kitchen then crept over to the picture, it was of a young boy with bright blond hair that shimmered in the sun and similar green eyes to the man in the earlier pictures but there was something different, something familiarly captivating about them.

"OH MY GOD!" Mike proclaimed loudly before slapping his hands over his mouth, Pete rushed into the room with a worried expression.

"What's wrong? What happened?" He asked erratically. Then he noticed the photo in Mike's hand and blushed before attempting to snatch it away only to have it lifted out of his reach.

"IS THIS YOU?! ARE YOU BLOND?!" Mike bellowed hysterically. Pete made another attempt to take the photo resulting in their faces almost touching which caused Mike to falter slightly and allow Pete to swipe the frame out of his hands, he hid it behind his back and glared at Mike who couldn't help but laugh.

"You're so fucking cute oh my god" he panted as he wiped a stray tear from the corner of his eye, "I can't believe Mr dark and scary Goth is actually blond!" He grinned again letting out a stray chuckle every now and then.

Pete just got angrier, "fuck you" he huffed before placing the photo back and storming upstairs with his coffee.

Mike quickly snapped a picture on his phone of the photo and hurried after the angry goth.

"I'm sorry Pete! Forgive me!" He called while still grinning wildly, Pete flipped him off over his shoulder without looking back and continued to walk towards his room Mike snickered at Pete's childish behaviour.

 _Why the fuck did he have to call me cute?! Why did he have to find out I'm fucking blond that's so fucking lame_

Pete thought to himself as he tried to calm his blush down while he entered his room with Mike close behind.

"Pete, you forgiven me?" Mike asked in a fake pleading voice, Pete turned to glare at him again but couldn't help the slight guffaw the released when he saw the vampire on his knees with his fingers entwined as if he was begging for forgiveness.

"Stand up you dick" Pete said while smiling before turning back and heading towards his CD player, he placed his coffee on the side and pulled the CD out of his pocket that Mike had lent him earlier that day. Slotting it in he hit play.

The music of _The Lords of the New Church_ surrounded the pair, Mike radiated happiness as he said "you're actually listening to it!".

Pete glanced at him and said "well yeah, I said I was going to tonight" before he continued browsing his bookshelf.

He pulled down a large thick black hardback book that seemed overused as it was fraying it the edges. He grabbed his coffee then sat on the floor and crossed his legs indicating to Mike to join him, the latter did and looked expectantly at Pete.

Pete placed the book between them and sipped his coffee as he slid it over to Mike who then read the front of it, embossed in gold were the words _'The Complete Collection of Edgar Allan Poe'_ , Mike looked up at Pete once again and beamed "So which poem do you want to do? You can decide" he said before looking back down at the book.

He was extremely curious as to what was inside but felt like it looked so fragile and delicate that if he tried to pick it up it would simply fall apart.

Pete laughed, "you can look at it you know" he said wondering why Mike hadn't already looked inside enthusiastically like he had expected.

 _He hasn't looked around my room like I thought he would, he did downstairs, wonder why_

Pete watched intrigued and continued to sip his coffee as Mike carefully picked up the book and placed it on his crossed legs. Turning to the first page, he noticed inside the cover were the words _'To Peter, Happy Birthday, I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. - Dad'_ Mike looked up at Pete nervously, feeling like it was all too personal, Pete just continued to watch him hiding his bemused smile behind his cup.

The poems were at the front of the book and the novels were at the back, Mike flipped to the first poem and was startled.

The entire page was already annotated completely in detail; this was from Pete's meetings with the other goths as, more often than not, they discussed poetry. Also he had read it cover to cover multiple times, each time finding new things to add.

"This is amazing.. Did you do all this?!" Mike questioned, Pete's smile looked a little sad now, "Yeah most of that page, the two lines in blue at the bottom were my dad...", Mike smiled back before returning to browsing the page.

"You've written so much and basically expressed every possible emotion each line is portraying..." Mike said in awe while seriously observing each page of the book, Pete blushed faintly suddenly feeling embarrassed but couldn't look away from the intense look in Mike's captivating cerulean eyes.

There was a pattern with the pages, there would be black annotations all over the page making it barely readable then along with all of that would be a short note in blue at the bottom of each page.

Pete was grateful that Mike didn't ask about his dad, he rarely spoke about him at all due to him always getting upset.

"I like The Raven but that's pretty cliché which also makes it conformist and I've already annotated every poem in there so you could pick one that you want to write about seeing as though I've already done my side of the work basically" Pete said indifferently.

Mike smiled "I wanna do The Raven" he said before turning to that page and reading Pete's annotations happily, Pete shrugged to hide his glee. He finished his coffee, putting the cup on his bedside dresser, and climbed onto his bed, "You can sit at my desk if you want, I'm just gonna have a smoke" he said while opening the window.

Mike agreed and got up to sit at the desk, he placed the book down and got out his notebook to start working. He glanced over to, once again, watch Pete as he wet his lips and placed the cigarette between them, he then went back to reading.

Pete blew smoke out of the window and watched Mike work away, his face full of concentration, time passed and Pete eventually finished his cigarette.

He laid down on the bed and let the music wash over him, "You were right" he said suddenly with his eyes now closed.

Mike turned to look at him, "Right about what?" He asked puzzled.

"I do like this band" Pete affirmed while humming along to the rhythm of _Dance With Me._

Mike beamed "Really?! I thought you would!" He said jovially with a blush spreading across his cheeks, Pete smiled and carried on drowning in the song.

Mike smiled and decided he could have a break, he leaned back in Pete's chair and closed his eyes to listen to the rest of the song.

Mike opened his eyes when it had finished and glanced over to Pete who was still laying on his bed, facing away from Mike's direction now, his breathing slow and even and his posture relaxed. The vampire wondered if the goth was asleep.

"Pete..?" He said quietly. No reply.

He stood up and moved over to the smaller teen, he stood next to his serene frame, "Pete are you asleep?.." He ushered gently.

The body stirred slightly and rolled towards Mike so he was on his back, looking they were now facing each other.

His features were calm and undisturbed, there was no tension or pain showing, only contentment.

Mike leaned in closer, kneeling on the floor beside the bed "Pete?.." he whispered, his breath ghosting over Pete's lips, Mike stayed close for a while, admiring Pete's long eyelashes and slim face, his gaze flicked to the sweet pink mouth below, it was slightly agape while Pete slept peacefully.

"You're so fucking beautiful.." He breathed, watching intently. Shyly he closed the distance between them, finally making contact.


	7. Graveyard Grief

**DON'T HATE ME GUYS! I'M STILL HERE! Ok so my Wi-Fi was being to terrible that they fitted a new router and it is WORSE than the old one. Literally my laptop wouldn't even connect to it until now so I'm really sorry for not posting sooner but TalkTalk are terrible!**

 **I left it on a kind of cliff-hanger too so I'm even sorrier but hopefully you're all still interested in this story and I hope you enjoy it!**

Mike closed his eyes as their lips touched, it was only for a second but it felt like an eternity, he could feel the softness of Pete's lips against his own, his piercings causing a slight extra pressure. Electricity ran through his body but a twitch in his groin area caused him to quickly pull away, he jumped to his feet and touched his lips, staring at the unmoving figure before grabbing his bag and rushing out of the room.

As the front door clicked closed Pete's eyes shot open and he bolted up in bed, his hand darted to his lips, they were still tingling and his cheeks burned fiercely, he thanked God that he managed to stay calm neutral till then.

Looking out of his window he saw Mike briskly walking away, the white snow turning him into a magnificent silhouette. Pete suddenly collapsed on his bed when he saw Mike begin to turn around and look back at the house.

When he peeked back out of the window he saw that Mike had continued walking away towards his own house, leaving Pete both excited and confused about his conflicting emotions.

When Pete arrived school the next day he found himself subconsciously waiting by Mike's locker, the moment he realised what he was doing he made an attempt to quickly scurry away but a smooth feminine voice caught him.

"P-Pete? What's up?" The sound drifted through his ears like an angel singing.

 _Imagine that perfect voice screaming my name..._

He halted, both his thoughts and his feet, and turned around. They both stood awkwardly for a while blushing slightly, Mike more than Pete, the silence was eventually broken when Pete finally replied "erm sorry for falling asleep yesterday", however, upon them both recalling the events of the day prior their blushes deepened causing Mike to ponder why Pete would be blushing anyway.

"It's fine, I managed to get some work done.. Oh I think I actually left my notebook at your house, I must have been distracted..." He said, growing quieter towards the end, the quick glance he gave to the goths lips did not go unnoticed by Pete.

Pete coughed and said "ah yeah I'll bring it tomorrow for lesson".

There was a slightly awkward silence until the bell cried out and the time caught their attention, Mike smiled at Pete and said goodbye before leaving for his class.

The day dragged on, Pete skipped most of his lessons because he couldn't concentrate, he even skipped art, he managed to make an appearance in maths but that was only because the teacher saw him in the corridor just before class and basically dragged him there herself.

At lunch he didn't eat and barely spoke to the others, if they noticed anything wrong with him they didn't mention it, probably because Michael and Henrietta were busy trying and failing to be discrete while giving each other intimate glances and brushing their hands together and Firkle was busy trying to ignore them.

When the last bell signalled they all piled into Michael's car, why they bothered to wait for the last bell is a mystery seeing as though none of them went to class.

The made it to Henrietta's fairly quickly and headed for the garage, her mum and dad let them practice there because she babysat Bradley whenever they asked her to, she didn't mind though, she treat Bradley similar to the way she treat Firkle even though he was older than him.

They discussed what songs they would practice for a while then began playing, it was going well but Pete ended up messing up a few times.

"Pete what the fuck?" Michael finally asked, all 3 of them stared at him and he just sighed before running his fingers through his fringe.

"I just.. I can't concentrate.." He stood up a little straighter "sorry I'll focus more" he said without looking at them.

Henrietta knitted her brow and pursed her lips into a line.

They did one more song before taking a break, Henrietta swiftly dragged Pete into her living room, leaving the other 2 in the garage to smoke.

She rose her eyebrows and waited with her hands on her hips.

Pete huffed and crossed his arms knowing he couldn't get away without telling her.

"So he came over last night..." Henrietta rolled her eyes are the information she already knew.

"Well we were doing Poe and obviously I've already annotated the poems so he was the only one doing work while I chilled... I ended up falling asleep..." He glanced up at his female companion and she stared back.

"Is that it? That can't be it, you're too anxious for that to be it, spill." She said narrowing her eyes.

Pete scrunched his eyebrows together and stared at the floor, he mumbled a quick "he kissed me..." Henriettas eyes widened and her arms dropped.

"I'm sorry, did I fucking hear you right?! He did WHAT?" She asked in a loud whisper, conscious of the other 2 in the next room.

He looked up at her now, "he kissed me! While I was sleeping! Well I wasn't sleeping was I?! He called me fucking beautiful then kissed me and ran away!" He said before tightly tugging his fringe with both hands and groaning.

Henrietta quickly pulled him into a tight hug and hushed him, "Petey it's ok" she said stroking his back until his let go of his fringe, knowing that the tighter he pulled his fringe the closer he was to a panic attack, she then pulled back but left her hands on his shoulders.

"You like him right? This is a good thing. Now we know he is at the very least attracted to you!" She said while rubbing his thin arms.

Pete nodded slightly, "but we can't go out or anything anyway because then Michael would kick me out and Firkle would hate me!" He said desperately.

Henrietta smiled warmly, "Michael wouldn't kick you out because I wouldn't let him and Firkle wouldn't hate you, he's more conformist than you think" she said comfortingly.

Pete arched an eyebrow at the last comment but decided to save that for another time, "so.. What should I do?" He asked quietly.

She hugged him again and said "tell him".

Pete shook his head briskly but she squeezed him tighter, "tell him or I will and you'll regret it." She said softly but sternly.

 _I bet she would as well.. Bitch..._ He smiled and nodded slightly.

Just as they pulled apart Michael called them back for more practice, luckily Pete didn't make any more mistakes for the rest of the songs so they managed to get through more than they planned.

After practice they decided to head to the cemetery to chill out because they hadn't been there in a while, before they went Michael drove to each of their houses to retrieve their Poe books then headed to the yard. Firkle laid on top of his usual tomb, Michael and Henrietta sat together learning against an extra large tombstone and Pete sat against a random one. The low, heavy fog, covered their feet and surrounded them, it was very calming in Pete's opinion.

They sat for a while, reading, discussing and passing around a flask of Jack that Michael had brought, Firkle drank but not as much as the others because he couldn't handle his alcohol yet.

Pete flipped a page in his Poe book but something fluttered out and landed on the ground in front of him. It was a folded piece of paper which looked to have been torn from the corner of a notebook of some description.

He picked it up and looked at it curiously for a moment before he opened it to read the contents. There was a message written in very neat cursive, it read:

 _The things you have written in here are amazing, your dad would be so proud of you_

 _\- Mike_

Pete read the note at least 6 times, the corners of his eyes moistened but he quickly wiped them away trying to make sure that no tears would fall this time, he missed his dad.

Although he was still young when his dad died he still missed him, to make it worse he blamed himself for the accident.

He pocketed the note and closed his eyes for a moment, calming his erratic emotions and clearing his head of the past, instead he thought of Mike and his extra wide grin with his fake vampire teeth poking out and his bright shimmering blue eyes when he spoke about something he loved.

He wanted to tell Mike how he felt, he was just scared.

 _I really wish Mike was here now, it's so lame but I just want to hug him and cuddle... If I told him how I felt I wonder how he would react, I'm pretty sure he likes me or else why would he kiss me but he might not want to be in a relationship or he might just reject me or Michael might find out and kick me out... I could never tell him..._

He sat anxiously, leaning back against his chosen gravestone and biting his nails and threading his fingers through his fringe.

Henrietta must have noticed his nerves because she was suddenly next to him, close enough for their legs to touch, the contact calmed him somewhat.

"Pete, it's seriously going to be fine. Just talk to him, I'm like 99.9% recurring sure that he's head over heels for you too"

She said quietly and placed her large warm hand over his to stop him biting his nails, "stop that, your nails are beautiful and you're ruining them"; this made Pete smile slightly but didn't completely dissipate his anxiety.

"But what if..." he glanced around to make sure the other two weren't listening "what if he rejects me?! Or even worse what if he says he likes me back? Then what?!" He almost put his fingers back to his mouth but Henrietta's hand held his own in place.

She noticed his slightly smudged eyeliner and smiled sadly, "Pete, when have you not trusted me? Never. You have never not trusted me so you have to trust me now too. It will be fine."

Pete then glanced down to the paper in his hand then back to Henrietta, he slowly and discretely handed her the note.

She tentatively took it and read it, her hand dramatically moved to her mouth as she covered it, she glanced back at Pete and saw him staring hard at the fog covering his shoes, she noticed his watery eyes and pulled him into a hug while pushing the note back into his hand.

She knew how much Pete loved his dad, they all knew.

Michael looked over to them slightly jealous but seeing as though he knew that Pete sometimes got upset at the graveyard he just assumed it was another one of those times.

They all knew about Pete's dad and how he blamed himself. One time at the graveyard, early on in their friendship, he drank too much and burst out crying telling them all everything that happened and why it was his fault and wouldn't calm down till Henrietta hugged him and the other two rubbed his back while he cried it all out, it was really sad but now they all understood if he was feeling extra down and they let him cry if he needed to. They were all safe together and would never judge each other for showing their emotions to one another even if it was actually a conformist thing to do. So they let Pete cry, they let Michael shout, they let Henrietta rant and they let Firkle do whatever he needed to. They were fine as long as they had each other.


	8. A Phone Call and a Shower

**This chapter is a little boring in my opinion...**

Firkle turned his head to observe Pete and Henrietta, a visibly sad look crossed his face, the alcohol was beginning to affect him so he climbed off his tomb and walked over to Michael who eyed him questioningly.

Firkle sat on Michael's knee without hesitation and leaned his head on his shoulder, Michael leaned his head back against the cold stone marble behind him and groaned "ugh did you drink too much again?" He asked angrily but stroked the younger goths back nonetheless.

They all also knew that Firkle became extremely clingy when drunk, they learned this when he first drank with them because he didn't know his limit and ended up drinking so much that he would literally cry when one of them wouldn't hug him or give him attention, much to Michael's dismay.

Firkle just nuzzled into Michael's neck more, "but Henrietta is busyy" he whined, Michael rolled his eyes.

"Henrietta, I know Pete is upset but please collect your kitten" he groaned while stroking Firkle's hair.

Pete had calmed considerably now and they were just leaning against each other comfortably, when they both looked over to Michael they burst out laughing, Firkle began to pretend to purr like a cat causing them to laugh even more at Michael's irritated expression.

"Here kitty, c'mon Firky" Henrietta called while patting her lap, Firkle quickly got up and walked over, sitting on her with his back to Pete, he cuddled up to her and occasionally leaned his head back to lean on Pete's shoulder too, getting attention from both of them had him grinning erratically.

Pete quickly pulled out his phone and took a picture of him and Henrietta with Firkle between them grinning widely with his eyes closed, an extreme contrast to his usual self. He laughed to himself imagining Firkle's anger the next day.

With his anxiety soon forgotten he enjoyed the rest of the night with his friends which mostly consisted of them all laughing at Firkle.

He got home around 2am and put his book on his desk before quickly fighting his way out of his restricting clothes, a familiar note dropped out of his jacket pocket and he picked it up.

He stared at it for a moment, tears pricking his eyes; this time he let them fall knowing no one would see and, feeling the buzz of the liquor, he pulled out his phone, Fumbling with his keyboard for a moment before finally managing to accomplish his difficult task, he wrote a text and sent it.

He collapsed onto his bed and after a while fell asleep on a damp pillow.

Pete nearly fell out of bed when he heard the sound of his phone blaring out the sound of _Death and Dispair_ _,_ he scrambled out of bed and frantically looked for the source of terror that broke him from his dark dreams.

It was pitch black in his room but luck was on his side because even with tired blurry vision he could easily see the light of his mobile like a beacon in the dark, he quickly snatched it up and answered it to stop the sound spearing his already throbbing head.

"Mm hello?" He croaked, groggily wiping his eyes and climbing back into bed.

" _Pete?.._ " A quiet familiar voice replied on the other end of the phone, Pete's eyes shot open with realisation simultaneously jolting him awake and sobering him up. He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at the screen, he squinted against the bright blinding light and saw that it was from a number not yet saved to his phone.

 _Shitshitshitshit_

"Erm.. Mike? Wha-what's with this call it's like half 5?" He asked hesitantly, his voice still rough and scratchy from the nights activities.

 _"I just saw your message and wanted to know if you were ok... Are you? You sound kind of weird.."_ Mike replied with concern lacing his words.

Pete let out a shuddery breath, "y-yeah I was erm drinking last night and don't really remember what I sent... Hold on" he said before minimising the call and going to his messages.

 _No way did I fucking text him what the fuck did I say?!_

He heard a faint _"You were drinking on a school night till 2am?! Wow..."_ Pete's mouth twitched slightly at Mike's innocence but was quickly replaced with a scowl as he reached his messages, chewing his lip with anxiety he quickly ripped off the bandaid and opened the last message he sent.

 _'Thanks dick :'('_

 _Oh my god could I have been more lame?! At least I didn't fucking confess my feelings or anything.. I hope he didn't realise I was actually crying like the bitch I am.._

"Oh fuck.." He mumbled "fuuuuck" he whined, throwing an his left forearm over his eyes.

 _"Look Pete if I did something I'm sorry"_ Mike said sincerely.

Pete's eyebrows rose, and he stuttered out a "n-no you didn't do anything _wrong_ I was just.. Th-thanking you... _Sincerely_ " Pete mumbled, growing quieter towards the end, it was quiet for a moment, Pete could hear his blood rushing through his ears and feel his blush spreading across his face.

" _Oh.. I thought it was a sarcastic message... Thanking me for what?"_ He asked now curious and concerned.

Pete sighed and threaded his thin fingers through his fringe.

"The note... It really got me ok? I was kind of drunk and all upset and we were in the cemetery and then I found your note and it just kind of hit me"

He said in one breath, tears threatening to make another appearance at the memory.

 _"Oh you saw it already.. Erm yeah I just left it in the heat of the moment I was so impressed by all your work and it really is the truth... Last night were... Erm were you..."_ _He went quiet for a beat_ _"Nevermind as long as you're ok, sorry for waking you up, want to go back to sleep?"_

Pete furrowed his brow slightly in the dark _Was I what? What was he gonna say? I don't really want him to go... But I have nothing to talk about..._

"Erm... N-not really..." He said lamely, suddenly feeling quite vulnerable and lonely.

 _God I'm acting like drunk Firkle_

 _"Oh! Well erm I was just getting up anyway"_ Mike said casually down the phone, Pete sat up allowing the duvet to fall to his waist exposing his naked torso.

"You're getting up?! This early?!" He said, completely confused as to why anyone would willingly get up at this ungodly hour.

Mike chuckled down the phone, _"well yeah, I need to shower and my hair is so thick it takes ages to dry, I don't get up at this time_ every _day, I just fell asleep last night before I had chance to shower"_ he explained, Pete was still perplexed as to why anyone would be able to get up at half 5.

"A vampire getting up with the sunrise? Madness" Pete joked dryly, causing Mike to laugh, stifling his giggles he took a moment to reply.

 _"Don't make me laugh Pete I can't wake my parents!"_ He urged while still laughing slightly.

Pete grinned into the darkness picturing Mike with pink cheeks holding back laughter.

"Ok ok, you still in bed or are you up?" Pete asked casually making conversation, now relaxing back against his headboard.

 _"Well I'm just standing up now, geez it's fucking freezing!"_

Mike huffed as Pete heard him shuffling around, Pete laughed at Mike's swearing as it was a rare occurrence and imagined him shirtless in the freezing room with goose bumps scattering his skin.

"Yeah it's bad when you only sleep in boxers, I practically had to run to the shower the other day" Pete said idly while playing with his fringe.

 _"You only sleep in boxers even in this weather?! I can't when it gets this cold, normally I do but lately I need to wear like trackies because it's so insufferably arctic"_ Mike said before shivering, he grabbed some dark purple jeans and a black shirt and headed to the bathroom.

"Yeah, maybe I'll wear some tonight but usually I just can't be bothered, what are you doing?" Pete asked as he heard a door close.

 _"You'll catch a cold if you don't! And I'm in the bathroom now, my phone's waterproof so I usually take it in the shower with me.. But if that's weird then we can just end the call? But I really don't want to..."_ Mike said cutely as he stripped himself of his pants and boxers.

Pete's felt himself blush at the thought of talking to Mike while he was naked and dripping with water on the other end of the phone.

 _Fuck that's hot..._

At the thought, Pete felt a stir in his boxers and blushed before willing the thoughts away.

 _And_ _he said he doesn't wanna end the call.. God I just wanna kiss him again.._

"No it's fine I don't fucking care if you're in the shower" he forced himself to say, trying to sound nonchalant but hearing his voice sound slightly higher than normal.

 _"Good because I already am"_ Mike said before laughing to himself, Pete's eyes widened slightly and his thoughts wandered to the familiar thought of what it would feel like to play with his tongue piercing, he quickly changed the topic to stop himself getting carried away with his thoughts.

"So erm when do you wanna come over tonight? Wanna walk home after school or do you need to pick something up?" He asked nervously, knowing that he would probably have to tell Mike about his feelings tonight.

 _"Yay I can come straight over? I will then, I don't need to pick anything up"_ he said sounding giddy.

Pete listened to the spray of water for a moment before smiling.

"Yeah, and fuck I won't even fall asleep this time!" He said laughing nervously as he recalled the kiss again, he also hears Mike laugh quietly on the other end.

 _"Yeah we wouldn't want that... Oh yeah! Don't forget my notebook, I'll need it for english tomorrow"_ Mike reminded as he shut the water off and towelled his body before wrapping the slightly damp towel around his hair.

Pete soon heard a zipper and instantly the image of Mike zipping up his tight jeans invaded his mind.

 _I'd rather unzip them.. God am I sexually frustrated or what..._

"Uh yeah I will, I might as well get up now and get ready, I'll have time for breakfast for once even though that's so fucking conformist" he rolled his eyes as he stood up and quickly pulled on a black shirt, it was a long sleeved top with tears down the sides and baggy cuffs, "hold on a sec" he said quickly down the phone, he then fought and eventually pulled on some black skinny jeans, as usual.

"Sorry I was just getting dressed" he said as he reclaimed the mobile device and headed out of his room and downstairs, not before grabbing Mike's notebook from his desk.

 _"Yeah I was getting dressed too, now I gotta dry my hair, ugh"_ Mike complained, he loved his hair but it was so thick and difficult to dry.

Pete entered his kitchen a pulled a cereal bowl out of the cupboard along with a black coffee mug with one small chip out of the side and a crack halfway down the opposite side.

"Yeah your hair is pretty fucking long, must take a while to dry. So what're you doing now?" Pete asked as he poured some Shreddies into his bowl along with some milk, he then switched on the kettle and added some coffee to his mug.

Mike chuckled softly, _"God you wanna know what I'm doing every second, what are you? My stalker?"_ He said down the phone causing Pete to blush slightly as he realised how clingy and _gay_ he was being.

 _He's not far from the truth with the way I'm acting. Stop Pete you're supposed to hate him. You're being too obvious._

" _For your information I'm having a cup of tea and then I'm going to put on my fangs"_ Mike said firmly.

Pete recalled the fangs Mike had in before and how they seemed different from middle school.

 _I wonder how they'd feel biting my neck.. Oh God stop_

"Oh yeah Erm are your fangs different from middle school because they look way realer... Not that I've been looking or noticed or anything.." Pete began to mumble the last part when he noticed how enthusiastic he sounded and felt his cheeks warm up.

Mike gasped lightly, _"you noticed! Yes these are new and they cost a LOT more but they were a birthday present. I'm thinking about getting my real teeth sharpened but probably not.."_

He chatted happily, Pete smiled as he finished off his bowl of cereal.

 _"Oh yeah what were you doing in the grave yard last night?"_ Mike suddenly asked quizzically.

Pete's head throbbed at the memory, "it's where we all go to hang out sometimes, if none of our houses are tolerable because of fucking parents we usually go there, last night was just because it's been a while since we've all been together so we went to read Poe and apparently drink.." His stomach wavered at the thought of alcohol but he suddenly remembered drunk Firkle and quickly went to his photo album.

Surprisingly there was more than one photo taken, there was at least 7, the last one wasn't taken by him, someone must have used his phone. It was of him sitting on the floor smiling happily, Henrietta was kneeling next to him with her arms around his neck kissing his cheek. He smiled warmly at the image of him and his best friend.

He heard Mike's voice and put the phone back to his ear, " _-at's cool, maybe one day we could hang out somewhere like that.._ " He said hopefully, before Pete had time to reply he added " _wait, isn't Firkle like 12 or something? Was he drinking too?!"_

Pete smiled at Mike's concern for his youngest friend, "yes he drinks but we always look after him and don't let him drink much don't worry, besides all that happens is that he gets really clingy and cuddly, I'll show you the pictures I took later" he laughed, imagining what expression Firkle would have if he found out.

 _"Yeah ok I look forward to it-damn! Sorry I have to go now I need to get ready, I'll see you soon, oh and don't forget my notebook!"_ Mike said hurriedly.

"Oh ok, yeah catch you later bye" Pete said before putting the phone down.

 _He's gonna think I'm so weird.. I was really cold to him just a few days ago now it's really hard to act indifferent.. Shit what's wrong with me_

He thought to himself as he cleaned his bowl, he checked the time and it was only 6:42am, he groaned and wandered back upstairs to his room.

He laid on his bed and messed around on his phone looking at the other pictures from the night before and just as he was dozing of his phone started ringing in his hand.

His eyes shot open and he saw that it was Michael, he answered it confused, "hey? What's up?" He said slowly.

 _"We're waiting outside where are you?"_ He asked with an almost unnoticeable hint of worry, Pete instantly looked back at his phone screen _7:32am,_ he bolted upright and jumped out of bed.

"Shit sorry man I didn't realise the time, I must have fallen back asleep I'll be right out, wait for me" he said in a rush while pulling on his heavy gothic boots, they came midway up his calf and had 4 buckles down the outer side with a chain down the inner side, he'd had them a long time so they were one of his most comfortable pairs of footwear and he could swiftly pull them on in a hurry.

He ended the call with Michael who agreed to wait a little longer and raced down the stairs, he pulled on the first jacket he picked up and headed out the door.

Luckily Michael did wait for him so he climbed into the hearse and got comfortable releasing a sigh of relief.

"Why were you late? That's unusual" Michael commented as he set off towards the school.

Pete's cheeks heated up slightly as thoughts of his fake vampire entered his mind. "I woke up at like half 5 randomly and couldn't get back to sleep so I got up and got dressed then went on my phone and must have fallen asleep again without resetting an alarm" he lied throwing a glance at Henrietta, she caught his eye and instantly knew something was up so she helped him by changing the subject.

"Firkle honey how are you feeling today?" She asked tentatively, only then did Pete notice that Firkle was in the back laid across the refurbished seats, the only reply he gave was a pained moan.

"You could've stayed at home today sweetie, are you sure you're ok to go in?" She pried, Firkle acted tough but they all knew he liked the attention and extra care Henrietta gave him, he hummed as an indication that he would be fine and when they reached the school Pete helped him climb out of the back onto slightly wobbly legs.

"You sure you're ok Firkle? You seem a little weak.." Pete urged, hoping the younger would decide to go home after all, they all worried about their youngest even if they never said it directly. Firkle took a deep breath and stood up straighter before looking at Pete's face with his usual controlled expression, giving nothing away of the night prior. Pete smiled gently, "I'm skipping anyway so I'll be around back if you get too tired or start to feel shitty again" Firkle's mouth twitched at that and they all headed into the school together.

They decided to walk Firkle to his locker and hang around with him until it was time for form, knowing that he was feeling vulnerable even if he wasn't showing it.

The other Middle school kids threw them the occasional glance and a whisper here and there but they quickly averted their attention when he caught Michael's cold stare, the only one that wasn't fazed was a familiar looking boy. He had messy black hair, pale skin and wore a sky blue hoodie with slim fitting black jeans and black converse. He stared at them completely unabashed and ignored Michael's glare, his attention was focused on Firkle alone as if the others didn't exist, his eyes shifted and locked with Michael's for a fraction of a second before locking back on Firkle.

Firkle reluctantly spared him a glance and narrowed his eyes before flipping off the other boy who only smiled brightly revealing a set of perfectly straight white teeth and trotted away.

Firkle sighed and slumped against his locker, "who was that?" Michael asked slightly curious.

Firkle rolled his eyes and swiped his fringe away from his eye, "Ike Broflovski, he's so fucking weird" he huffed in annoyance. Michael nodded in understanding, while the oldest and youngest were distracted Henrietta had caught Pete's attention and had a hushed conversation with him, Henrietta had agreed to skip first lesson with him to talk.

The bell rang all too loudly causing Firkle and Pete to groan in unison as their heads got split open again, Pete pitied Firkle because he had it much worse but he remembered his younger days when he'd first started drinking and knew he'd get used to it soon.

Before Firkle headed into class Henrietta pulled him into a comforting hug and pecked his forehead, "come to us if you need us ok?" She reassured, Firkle nodded before entering his classroom noticing Karen McCormick and Ruby Tucker staring at him with slight blushes dusting their cheeks before they entered a conversation of whispers. He ignored them and planted his head on his desk.


	9. I'm Gay

**Thank you so much for your reviews guys I really appreciate them! Sorry if this story is dragging on but we're ALMOST at the "confession" so stick with me! I hope you enjoy this chapter everyone!**

When Michael left Pete and Henrietta alone they walked to their usual spot at the back of the building and each lit up.

"So what happened? Were you up early because you were secretly fucking Dracula or something? You have to give him a feed before the sun rose?" She said in a serious tone, grabbing Pete's arm tightly before bursting out laughing, Pete just glowered at her, "fuck off" he said before taking a deep drag off his cigarette, he didn't realise how much he needed one until he felt his muscles throughout his body relax.

"Ok seriously though" Henrietta said while smoking her own nicotine fix.

"So my phone rings are whatever time, half 5 or whatever the fuck it was, and I answer it of course assuming it's you. It isn't you it's Mike, I didn't know cos I didn't check the ID but then it's too late and it turns out I texted him last night before I went to sleep..." He explained as she listened intently.

"No shit what did you text him?!" She asked incredulously, now extremely interested.

Pete pulled up the message and showed Henrietta the evidence, he grimaced as she once again couldn't contain her laughter, "oh Petey! You poor little lovestruck puppy!" She grinned.

Pete closed his eyes and covered them with the palms of his hands, "Henry don't" he mumbled and she stopped teasing him.

"So what did you say?" She asked now resuming the conversation in a softer voice.

"He thought that he did something wrong and upset me so I had to tell him that it was a sincere thank you and I felt so fucking awkward and embarrassed it was awful.." He said while dragging his hands down his cheeks.

"Look he probably thought it was cute once you explained that you weren't mad at him" Henrietta replied while checking out the damage control on her chipped nail polish.

Pete's cheeks warmed slightly at that, as much as he hated being called _cute_ he still felt happy that Mike might think that about him.

Wishing to change the subject Pete decided to show some interest in Henrietta's love life, "so how's it going with Michael then?" He asked causing a wide grin to break out across her face and her eyes to light up. Clearly she had been dying for him to ask.

"Well everything is great! I'm fucking glad he finally admitted his feelings. But... One thing kinda bothers me" she said with a thoughtful expression on her face.

Pete quirked an eyebrow in question and she continued, "well he's great and all but he's just so fucking _shy_ about everything" she said before rolling her eyes and taking a drag.

Pete stared for a moment in bewilderment. "Michael.. Is fucking SHY?! No way, he acts so hardcore! He's Mr I Don't Give A Shit most of the time" Pete ranted in disbelief.

Henrietta chuckled slightly, "yeah well when it comes to romance he's more like a prepubescent virgin boy, we've only kissed like twice because he gets so red a flustered and I feel like I'm forcing him to" she said now playing with her nails and picking the black paint off.

Pete knew that was a telltale sign that she was genuinely worried so he thought about a serious answer. "He was the one to initiate the first kiss so you know he _does_ like you so he will _wanna_ do things with you, maybe if you gradually push him more and more he'll find his confidence or whatever.." He said carefully, Henrietta smiled warmly, feeling reassured and gaining her own confidence.

"Yeah you're probably right, thanks Pete".

They continued to smoke and talk till the end of first period when Henrietta decided to go to the next class and Pete decided to nap.

He got as comfortable as he could, laying on his bag and using his jacket as a cover.

When Pete woke up later Firkle was curled up next to him, also sleeping. He was careful not to wake him and sat up, then he noticed Henrietta was also there, sitting on the step by their feet.

"Oh hey, Erm what time is it?" He asked groggily in a low voice, trying not to disturb the youngest of the group.

"Lunch is about to start" she said while looking at something on her phone and smiling.

Pete rubbed his eyes and slowly moved away from Firkle while gently draping the jacket over his small frame.

He crawled over and sat next to Henrietta, "God it's fucking freezing" he mumbled while wrapping his arms around himself, "what are you looking at?" He asked while leaning over to look at her screen.

She turned it towards him so he could see, it was a picture of Pete and Firkle asleep together with Firkle's head on Pete's shoulder and his face buried in Pete's neck.

"You fucker" he laughed playfully pushing her.

"You're so cute together, my babies" she cooed while pinching Pete's cheeks, he slapped her hands away laughing and they sat in a comfortable silence for a moment.

"So are you confessing to Mikey boy tonight?" Henrietta suddenly asked in a hushed tone.

Pete turned his head quickly to look around and see if anyone was nearby while also seeing if Firkle was still asleep.

"Henry don't talk about that so openly!" He urged "I think I am but we'll see.." He mumbled, she patted his back and a few moments later Michael appeared.

He glanced at Firkle before sitting on the other side of Henrietta.

Pete idly browsed his phone before remembering the pictures from the night before, "Henrietta look at these you'll love them" he said before handing her his phone.

"Oh wow, these are amazing, we should totally use them against Firkle in the future, he was so drunk" she continued to browse, "what's this video?" Pete looked confused for a moment and looked at his phone when she pressed play.

The screen shows Firkle crawling around on all fours meowing like a cat, he stalks over to Michael who tells him politely to _fuck off_ then he crawls over to Henrietta and nuzzles her neck before proceeding to move towards the camera and Pete, then the video is suddenly filled with the sound of Pete's laughter and he's says _"aw sick he licked my face"_ Henrietta then starts laughing and Michael visibly smiles before the video cuts off.

Pete and Henrietta burst out laughing and Michael began chuckling softly, "what're you laughing at?.." Firkle mumbled as he stretched and moved into a sitting position rubbing his sleepy eyes and yawning.

The laughing increased and all eyes were on him, he frowned and crawled over to them in a similar fashion to the night before which only made them laugh more, he frowned and moved between Pete and Henrietta so he could see the screen but all he saw was black with a play button in the middle. "What is it?!" He asked, now getting annoyed.

Henrietta just ruffled his hair, "you can see another time baby" she laughed and Firkle just huffed in annoyance.

"Oh my _GOD_ this one is so cute!" Henrietta called as she came to the picture of her and Pete, "who took this?" She asked glancing to Michael.

"Yeah me, thought you'd like it even if I don't..." He said rolling his eyes with a visible hint of jealousy in his voice.

Henrietta looked at him for a moment before handing Pete back his phone and putting her hand on Michael's shoulder, "Michael nothing would ever happen between me and Pete that is ridiculous" she said flatly, she knew that's what he was getting at as the picture was of Henrietta kissing Pete's cheek.

He sighed "I know you're just kinda close.. Very close.. He stays over at your house more than he stays over at his own" He muttered while glancing into her eyes.

Henrietta chewed her lip anxiously, "Michael.. Seriously there is no chance of anything ever happening between us.." She said squeezing his shoulder tighter.

He glanced away looking unconvinced, Pete watched the conversation unfold and decided he had to step in.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second then leaned forward to look at Michael.

"Michael I'm gay." He said steadily.

Michael stared at him for a moment, he turned to Henrietta for confirmation and received a nod, he then looked back to Pete.

"Oh... So... Ok" he said soaking it in. Pete laughed lightly and looked at Firkle, waiting for his response.

Firkle looked uninterested, "oh yeah I already knew" he said flippantly.

Pete narrowed his eyes, "you knew? Since when?"

Firkle shrugged and picked at his nails, "dunno" he then looked directly into Pete's eyes "probably since I found out who you're crushing on" he said quietly.

Pete's eyes widened and Henrietta whipped her head around to look at him, Michael quirked an eyebrow at Henrietta's sudden movement as he didn't hear what Firkle had said.

"D-don't say anything to Michael" Pete breathed and Firkle looked up at him in concern "I won't" he mouthed before gently touching his hand hidden from view.

Henrietta smiled and turned back to Michael.

"See? Nothing will happen ok?" She kissed Michael's cheek, and he smiled.

"Yeah ok" he then looked at Pete, "Pete don't worry about it man; this doesn't change you" he said sincerely; this being a rare occasion that Michael actually shows he cares about his friends.

The group spent the remainder of lunch break smoking and chatting occasionally, all of them feeling a little bit closer as friends and each feeling a little less stressed.

When the bell chimed Pete felt could almost feel himself being pulled towards english class.

He finished his smoke as fast as his could without looking strange, and nearly sucked it into his mouth in the process, then he stood and mumbled a goodbye of some description before speed walking towards his next class.

He automatically gravitated to Mike's table and took his usual seat, the former hadn't arrived yet much to Pete's dismay so he simply unpacked his things. As he was doing that he noticed Mike's notebook and thanked himself for actually remembering to bring it, he decided to see how much work Mike had managed to get through before.. Kissing him, so he flipped it open.

As he looked through for the latest work he suddenly stopped in his tracks and stared at the page he was on. He had come across a picture that Mike had drawn, it was breathtaking to say the least.

The longer Pete stared the more familiar the figure felt, there was no colour but he could almost see the red in the choppy black mess of hair. It was him.

The drawing was of Pete standing shirtless with his right arm outstretched and huge black wings protruding from his back and a shower of feathers falling down amongst other feathers already on the ground. On his extended arm sat a large raven, also with it's wings out.

Pete continued to stare at the detail put into the image, Mike had drawn it in a black biro so it was probably just a doodle but it was still amazing.

"Fuck!" He heard an overly effeminate voice cry behind him, he began turning his head but an arm quickly reached past his face, missing his nose by a narrow margin, and snatched the notebook up.

He followed the familiar arm up to the adjoining shoulder before reaching the extremely pink and extremely embarrassed face of Mike Makowski.

"Er-erm this is j-just a doodle it's-it's nothing really" he managed to utter, stumbling over his words, he quickly swiped his fringe away from his face and avoided eye contact.

Pete felt happiness bubble up inside him at the thought that there was a chance that Mike liked him more than he thought, although the happiness didn't show on his face.

"Drahomo." Pete said, regaining Mike's attention who was still completely embarrassed and expecting the worst, "that's amazing you should draw more, now show me what work you did at my place" he said, adding the last part in a hope to change the subject and make Mike feel less awkward, Mike noticed that and was grateful so as he took his seat he found the right page and passed it to Pete.

 _He drew me so... Beautiful... Is that how he see's me? Concentrate! Wow he's done a lot actually, guess we should decide on our final piece to write about._

"Ah hey, think we should decide on our third piece? I mean you've basically finished this Poe and Macbeth will be easy" Pete said while picking his black nail polish from his right hand.

Mike was still blushing and clearly still worrying about the picture but he didn't mention it again, "er y-yeah you have anything in m-mind per se?" His eyes instantly widened and he covered his mouth with his right hand before covering his entire face with both hands and groaning "my _god_ ".

Pete whipped his head around at the old saying, "really? ' _Per se'_ again?" He laughed.

Mike slid his hands down slightly and peered over his fingertips, "I didn't mean to, it slipped out, it's still hard to break a habit after years of having it" Pete just smiled at him fondly but it was gone almost instantly, however it still surprised him enough to drop his hands away from his face, "wh-what?" He asked.

"Nothing fagpire, now we gonna actually do work? Guess we could just do another Poe thing, maybe like a shorter one like _Spirits of the Dead_ " he mumbled, secretly pleased that he made Mike nervous enough to slip up.

They decided to work on Macbeth and get Pete's Poe book tomorrow, they worked pretty silently for the rest of the lesson, apart from the occasional chatter about music and whatnot, just before the bell sounded Mike piped up.

"You still wanna hang out tonight- I mean work tonight?" He said flustered.

Pete glanced at him, _tonight's the night_ he thought before nodding his head, Mike grinned, beaming at him.

"Can we go to yours though?" Pete asked, knowing he would need the opportunity to flee if need be.

Mike nodded enthusiastically, "yeah sure, you can stay for dinner and we can get pizza!" He rambled while still grinning, Pete raised an eyebrow causing Mike to stop altogether and blush again, "o-or you can leave when you want and we don't have t-to get pizza..." He said awkwardly, Pete laughed.

"I like pizza" he said and smiled again which in return caused Mike to grin.

As they were walking out of the school Pete glanced in the usual direction of Michael's hearse and saw that Firkle was the only one there waiting, he then noticed a familiar baby blue hoodie next to him which made Pete stop walking, if any trouble started he would definitely protect his younger companion.

He watched the interaction, the kid he couldn't remember the name of was smiling widely and talking none stop to Firkle who, looking as indifferent as ever, was glancing around as if looking for someone.

 _That's unexpected_

He then turned to the blue boy and, looking slightly angry, started talking back with an urgency, the boy just laughed and smiled more.

It was then that Pete caught a glimpse of Henrietta and Michael walking towards the hearse, Firkle noticed them and began pushing the slightly taller boy away who in return ruffled his hair before turning and walking towards a different car, _Stan Marsh's_ car.

"Hello? Is Pete home in there?" Mike's feminine voice pulled Pete from his thoughts, he turned and saw Mike's face inches from his own, he flinched back and felt his cheeks warm.

"Uh yeah sorry, let's go" Pete mumbled before beginning to walk again, Mike looked at Pete's group of friends before he caught up to him and they headed for his house.


	10. Pineapple Pizza

**Seems like forever since I updated, this chapter is a little short so I might post another soon to keep you interested! And if you didn't already know then I've started a side story focusing on Firkle and Ike's relationship that has been hinted at in this fic, so y'know, check it out if you want! Thanks for reading!**

It didn't take long for the two to arrive at Mike's house, as they walked in Mike's mum appeared from the kitchen.

"Hey Mikey how was- Oh hello Pete! I didn't realise you were coming over! Are you staying for dinner?" She said in a cheerful voice after noticing Pete was there, he mustered up a small smile and let Mike reply for him.

"Yeah we were just gonna order pizza or something if that's ok?" Mike asked his mother who nodded in agreement.

"That's fine, I'll make me and your dad something and just order your food when you want" she smiled at them both before shooing them upstairs and out of the way.

When they got in Mike's room Pete dropped his bag, kicked his shoes off and fell onto the bed, relaxing and making himself at home, Mike watched him with an amused expression playing with his features as he dropped his own bag and settled in his computer chair.

"Comfortable?" He asked laughing, Pete sat back up as if just realising where he was.

"Yes actually, I am _Mikey_ " he taunted before smirking as Mike blushed slightly in response.

"Don't call me that.." he said while standing up, ".. _Peter_ " he spat back before smirking himself and crossing his arms.

Pete also stood up, "Don't call you that or what?" He huffed, mimicking Mike's crossed arms stance.

Miked thought for a moment, "don't call me that or... I'll beat you up?" He offered, more of a question than a threat.

They stayed still for a moment, glaring into each other's eyes, not long after Pete burst out laughing.

"You'll beat me up? Really?" he said while laughing hysterically.

Mike grinned wryly in response and chuckled along with him, happy he made Pete laugh so much.

"Ok whatever you say _Mikey_ " Pete added glancing up into Mike's eyes, still laughing.

Suddenly he felt a hard shove against his shoulders, quickly losing his balance he fell on his back against the black duvet of the bed.

 _What the fuck?_ he flinched then looked up to see Mike hovering over him. _Shit he's so close._ Pete felt his cheeks warm up at the closeness of their body's.

Mike smirked, all laughing ceased and a silence filled the room, their faces were inches apart and their breath mingled in the small space between their mouths.

Mike had Pete's hands pinned down as he towered over the him, Pete tried to move his arms but failed and in turn his cheeks coloured more and he had to fight to keep his heart under control.

"I told you I'd beat you up" Mike said lowly before grinning and laughing while climbing up off of Pete who just laid there for a second blinking.

He quickly sat up and adjusted his clothes before he smacked Mike's arm, "what the fuck dude, not cool" he huffed, then crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall.

Mike still laughed for a second longer but as he replayed what he just did he realised how intimate it was between them and his face flushed. He was used to playing around with the other guys in his vampire gang so he wasn't really thinking about it being Pete, now that he pictured his body pressed against Pete's and their faces almost touching he was getting incredibly embarrassed.

Pete watched him closely as the thoughts went through his head and he noticed the moment his cheeks darkened.

 _I win._ He smirked.

"S-sorry..." Mike mumbled before he hopped up and went to his bookshelf, making sure to face away from Pete, "erm do you may-maybe wanna watch a film?" He asked while scratching the back of his head, his black and green hair becoming slightly disheveled.

"I thought we were supposed to be doing work?" Pete asked innocently while staring at Mike's back and grinning.

The latter turned around now, seemingly composed and quickly said "we-well we don't _have_ to do work" he said slightly embarrassed.

"You got any horrors?" Pete asked nonchalantly which caused Mike to both brighten up and cringe at the same time, he was ecstatic that Pete was willing to just hang out and watch films but he absolutely could not stand horror films.

"Horror?.." He mumbled timidly while averting his eyes away from the goths.

"What? Draqueerla is afraid or horror films? I thought you were a monster of the night?" Pete teased, Mike felt his face heat up for what felt like the 100th time that night.

"No! I'm _not_ scared of horror films!" He denied, a little too defensively which only caused Pete's smirk to widen.

Mike shuffled between feet, "just don't think I have any.." He mumbled while playing with part of his hair.

Pete waltzed over to the shelf Mike was previously looking at to see what DVD's he had.

 _Twilight... of course he would have all 4 of these.. Hairspray?!_ Pete withheld a laugh as he browsed the rest of the films.

They were mainly kids or romance films but his eyes zeroed in on a particularly black case, "ah! Insidious! We can watch that, it's not scary like at all but it's better than these lame films" Pete said gleefully while pulling out the chosen DVD case.

Mike groaned, "I forgot I had that.. My dad got me it for my birthday thinking I was into scary films..." He mumbled, making his distaste for the genre obvious in an attempt to appeal to Pete's merciful side in hopes that they could watch something else.

"Good thing he did!"

Pete did not grace Mike with any mercy.

Mike rolled his eyes and sighed as Pete put the DVD in the player.

Pete then turned off the lights before they both sat on Mike's bed, closer than either of them realised.

Throughout the film Pete mostly laughed at the obvious fake swears while Mike had taken to clutching his pillow against his chest and hiding behind it whenever anything remotely scary appeared on screen.

There was a tense scene currently playing, the old school horror music building suspense was a telltale sign that something was about to jump out and Mike was slowly raising his pillow up, his body completely tense.

Then, Pete shifted ever so slightly and they're hands brushed on the bed between them.

Mike screamed. He really screamed, if it was any louder he would not only have deafened Pete but with the high pitch he was shrieking at he could've shattered all the windows on the street.

Pete stared at him in shock for a second before suddenly breaking out in manic laughter, Mike simply sat there blushing furiously.

By the time Pete's laughter had finally settled down to the odd chuckle his eyes were watering so much he was almost crying.

"W-what was that?!" Pete laughed, wiping away his tears.

Mike was still blushing and scowling at Pete, "don't laugh at me you dick!" He scolded while shoving Pete so he fell sideways momentarily.

"Aww I'm sorry, did I scare you?" Pete cooed while pinching Mike's cheek.

"Fuck off" Mike sulked, crossing his arms and turning back to the film which was now almost over.

 _Well that's fucking adorable_

"Don't be a bitch I'm only joking with you" Pete laughed, returning to the film in his previous position.

Mike continued to sulk for the remainder of the film, as soon as the credits began to roll Pete started poking Mike in the cheek but received no reaction, he sat there made of stone.

His stomach growled and he remembered that he hadn't eaten "fucking pizza time" he demanded, poking Mike's cheek harder.

Pete had begun feeling very comfortable around Mike now, so comfortable that he had almost completely forgotten about his false hatred and cold front he was supposed to be putting on, allowing him to act like himself without realising. He continued poking Mike's cheek with his black polished finger.

"I'm going to fucking rot away and die of starvation right here if you don't fucking feed me vamp" he said sternly, Mike couldn't stop a smile spreading across his face at the Goth's out of character pestering.

" _Fine..._ " He mumbled drastically, Pete stopped mid poke and smirked, as he was just about to boast about his success Mike swiftly turned his head and bit the offending digit.

" _Shit!"_ Pete yelled as he tore his finger away, he examined his injury while Mike laughed at him.

"That's what you get for being mean" he stuck his tongue out between his fangs and stood up to retrieve the phone.

Pete sucked his finger instinctively then blushed slightly and pulled his from his mouth as he realised that he was licking where Mike had just bitten.

 _That's almost like kissing him..._ He looked over at Mike's broad back _Too bad I'm not actually kissing him..._ He sighed thoughtfully _I wonder if he will be embarrassed by an indirect kiss..._

A smirk emerged on his face and he quickly put his finger back in his mouth before Mike turned back around, "Ok so what pizza do you want?" Mike asked before proceeding to take his place back on the bed beside Pete.

He looked up from his phone and his eyes zeroed in on Pete mouth as heat noticeably spread across his cheeks.

 _Two wins to me._

Mike cleared his throat and looked back at his phone screen "Well?" He asked again, his voice slightly higher than usual.

Pete slowly dragged the finger from between his lips as Mike fought his urges to look back at Pete and concentrated on staring at his phone.

"I usually just get plain cheese pizza but I'll eat anything so whatever you want" Pete replied with a smirk, Mike nodded dumbly and dialled a number into his phone.

When the pizza arrived, which had half just plain cheese and half with pineapple, the two sat on Mike's bed facing each other to eat it while _Holiday in Cambodia_ by _Dead Kennedys_ played in the background.

"This song's pretty good, who sings it?" Pete quizzed while taking a slice from his half of the pizza and biting into the gooey mess.

 _This pizza is way better than the cheap shit I normally get, I bet it's from a fancy takeaway or something_

"I hoped you would like it!" Mike chimed enthusiastically, "They're called _Dead Kennedys!_ This is my favourite playlist, it has all my favourite songs so I hope you like the other songs too…" He blushed as he grabbed a slice of his fruity pizza.

 _Fruity haha how ironic_

"Why would you just get pineapple pizza?" Pete scrunched his nose up slightly at the prospect, Mike swallowed his current mouthful before replying.

"I like sweet things and there isn't a sweet pizza but pineapple is pretty sweet and I like fruit and stuff" He rattled on in self defence, Pete chuckled lightly.

"You're so weird, but thanks for getting half cheese, I said I would eat anything but _just_ pineapple doesn't sound too appetising" He said finishing his slice and reaching for another.

Mike frowned, "Well you only get cheese, how _boring_ " he muttered before putting his uneaten crust back in the box and quickly retrieving a replacement.

"Cheese is fine, cheese is normal, you don't have to special order plain pizza. You don't eat your crust?" Questioned the goth as he tried to open the window with his free hand.

Mike rolled his eyes "No I don't, now can we stop discussing my eating habits?" He sighed dramatically, watching Pete trying to fiddle with the window. Mike placed his current crust back in the box and climbed to his knees so he could lean over and open the window for Pete.

"Fine I guess" Pete he grinned, leaning his elbow on the windowsill and let the cool gentle breeze blow over him, closing his eyes he exhaled happily.

Mike stared in awe, Pete's black fringe was caressing his forehead and his long eyelashes feathered over his pale cheeks.

"You're so" _beautiful_ Pete heard the end of the statement before Mike said it, he glanced at him and his eyes widened as he saw the look on the others face, Mike realised what he was about to say again and he quickly stood from the bed, his cheeks darkening "Y-You want some coffee?" Mike asked nervously.

"Erm sure" Pete replied, the look on Mike's face still etched clearly in his mind. Mike nodded and swiftly left the room, leaving Pete alone with his thoughts.

 _What was that look on his face? Was he staring at me the whole time? Was he going to say beautiful again...?_

His cheeks heated up and he pulled out his cigarettes, suddenly losing his appetite for pizza.


	11. I fucking like you

**I'm really sorry for not posting last week, I don't even know what happened? I must have lost track of time because I didn't realise it had been so long! I will post another chapter either later today or some time tomorrow and If you are reading my story ' _Not So Conformist After All'_ I will be posting two chapters for that as well. So sorry again guys and I hope you enjoy!**

Pete closed his eyes again with a scowl, _How am I gonna tell him I'm a fag for him? Even if he likes me back it's not like we could just openly date each other or whatever conformist shit he'd wanna do... I just really wanna_ touch _him more, "_ Ugh!" He groaned, tugging on his fringe with his spare hand.

He didn't have much more time to contemplate his issues before he heard the bedroom door creak open once more, sighing softly he regained his composure as he turned to face Mike.

The person he saw however, was definitely not Mike. It was a small girl around the age of 6 with long curly brown hair and matching dark brown eyes. "Hey Mike you look different, did you change your hair?" He asked the small girl standing in the doorway who giggled in return.

 _I made a little girl laugh, what the fuck am I turning into?_

"I'm not Mike! I'm Becky!" She giggled, grinning as she walked further into the room, "who're you?" She asked, cocking her head to the side like a puppy.

Pete docked out his cigarette and turned to face her properly, "I'm Pete, Mike's... friend" he said, attempting to sound friendly and forcing a pathetic smile.

"Oh I know you! Mikey talks about you _all_ the time!" She uttered gleefully, clasping her hands together and bouncing on her toes slightly.

 _He talks about me? To his little sister?_

"Oh _really_? And what does he say about me?" He asked with a smirk, leaning forwards and resting his chin on his hand.

Becky glanced at the door before turning back to Pete with sparkling eyes, grinning impossibly wider. "Well, he always says you're _pretty_ or something, and and he even has this tatt-" However, Becky was promptly cut off by Mike almost breaking door as he stormed in. Blushing, he throws Pete an embarrassed look before turning to the girl with a furrowed brow.

"Bee. What are you in here for?" He asked, placing his hands on his hips.

Becky smiled at him " _bzzz bzz bzzz!"_ She said, doing what Pete assumed was her best bee impression.

Mike grinned and rolled his eyes, " _bzz bz bzzz bzz?"_ He buzzed back, somehow making it sound like a question. Pete rose one eyebrow quizzically at the scene before him.

 _They're just as weird as each other. Do they actually understand each other...?_

Becky then began jumping up and down, " _bz bzz bzzz!"_ She tittered happily and saluting Mike then smiling at Pete once more before running out of the room.

Mike sighed heavily before turning to Pete, "Erm she was in the living room then when I went in the kitchen to make coffee she disappeared... I thought she'd come bother you" he said apologetically whilst rolling his eyes.

Pete laughed lightly, "so what's the deal with buzzing?" He asked teasingly, Mike blushed at the question and pushed his fringe out of his face.

"Well she's called Rebecca, but she prefers Becky, I called her B once which made her start acting like a bee, from then on she decided I was... the _Queen bee_... and she's my worker, so she makes me call her Bee" he mumbled as an explanation.

"Oh, o-ok _queen bee_ " Pete muttered, holding back laughter, Mike glared at him and once again put his hands on his hips.

"Shut up" he commanded, frustrated, "she always likes to annoy people when I have someone over, sorry… what did she say to you anyway?" he asked curiously.

At first, Pete contemplated what to tell him, "Well, she asked what my name was and when I told her it was Pete she got all excited" he started, Mike then looked visibly worried, clearly not expecting her to actually tell him anything important, which was very amusing to Pete so he continued, "then she went on to tell me that you talk about me _all_ the time" he said, putting as much emphasis on the word ' _all_ ' as was possible. He held back a smirk when he saw Mike begin to gnaw on his thumb nail and his cheeks colour, "Oh she also said she thought I was ' _pretty_ ' or something?" he said, making sure not to include the part where she said it was Mike who thought he was pretty, however Mike appeared to fail to register that as he was now blushing furiously and looked as if he was about to explode with embarrassment. "Weird that she thinks I'm pretty even though I'm a guy" he then laughed "She's almost as weird as you" he said smiling, trying to comfort Mike incase he got too panicked over the teasing.

Mike let out a small sigh of relief, "Yeah, I guess when someone says you're pretty they must really like you…" he trailed off, "I-Is that all she said?" he asked hopefully, looking pleadingly at Pete.

 _Oh this is fun._

"Well actually" he began again, causing Mike to groan and scrunch his nose up, "I _think_ she was gonna say something about a tattoo?" he said more of a question than a statement, "She said something but stopped when you nearly busted the door"

 _I wonder what that was actually about? I've seen his tattoos already but she said it was about me so what has that got to do with tattoos? I dunno…._

He studied Mike's face as it changed from mild embarrassment at the start to the complete shock and something akin to _fear_ currently decorating his features, he had even drained of all prior colour.

"D-Did she say what tattoo sh-she was talking about?" he asked meekly, Pete furrowed his brow at the sudden change in character.

"Erm no? She didn't even manage to finish the word 'tattoo'. Why, what's wrong? I've seen your tattoos already anyway?" he asked, now slightly concerned.

Mike mustered up a smile, "O-oh it's nothing erm just she… isn't supposed to know about my b-back incase she spills and tells dad" he lied shakily, Pete knew he made that up on the spot but decided to let it go for now. "Ah I'll go get the promised coffee!" he said before once again leaving the room in a hurry.

 _What was all that about? Why would a tattoo worry him so much?_

Pete's curiosity was piqued, he thought for a moment, suddenly he gasped to himself.

 _The fucking secret private tattoo he talked about before? Maybe it's something to do with that?! But if his sister has seen it then where could it be? And more importantly what the fuck has it got to do with me?_

Pete was lost in his thoughts until Mike appeared back in the room and a strong smell of coffee wafted into his nose, he quickly snapped out of his daze and felt himself craving the liquid heroin, extending an arm he retrieved the mug. He quickly took a mouthful, allowing it to burn a trail through his mouth and down his throat, he relaxed as he felt the familiar fiery warmth spread across his stomach.

 _This must be expensive posh coffee, does everything taste better here?_

Mike was gently blowing on his cup, "How can you drink it so easily when it's still so hot?" he asked in shock.

Pete rolled his eyes "I always drink my coffee hot, used to be because it made me feel something but now it's just because I'm used to it I guess" he explained before drinking more, Mike rolled his eyes in return and sipped his tea.

"So can you actually understand Becky when she's buzzing at you?" Pete asked, breaking the silence.

Mike laughed, "No, not at all, but somehow she always knows what I want her to do" he smiled warmly, clearly very fond of his sister.

"She acts like you but she doesn't look much like you, luckily for her" Pete joked while drinking his coffee and recalling how the girls deep brown eyes were a stark contrast to Mike's bright blue.

"Oh ha ha." he fake laughed, "We aren't actually related by blood, I was adopted by this family when I was 7…" he explained quietly then sipped more tea, "Becky doesn't know that yet though, yet" he added.

 _He's adopted? What? I never knew!_

"I had no idea you were adopted" Pete said, surprised by the information.

"Yeah, I was born in England actually, my current parents adopted me when I was 7 then 3 years later we moved here and I started school here, and met you" he said, drinking more tea to hide his bashful smile.

"Wait wait, what?! Not only are you adopted but you're ENGLISH?!" Pete exclaimed as he put his mug on the windowsill, after a moment of soaking in the news realisation showed on his face, "Oh so that's why you were able to see The Damned in England?" he asked enthusiastically.

Mike smiled again, "Yeah we were over there visiting family for Christmas and one of my cousins got me tickets as an early christmas present" he said happily recalling the memory, also glad that Pete wasn't making a big deal out of him being adopted. "Maybe we could see them together one day…" he added shyly.

Pete allowed himself to grin at the prospect, "Yeah hopefully" it was then that his phone vibrated, picking it up he saw that it was, predictably, Henrietta so he opened it.

 _Henry: Aren't you home yet? If you are then why haven't called me to tell me how it went? Xx_

Pete wondered why she would be texting him already expecting him to be home, then he looked at the time, "Wow it's already past 9, I should get going…" he said reluctantly, as he looked over at Mike.

A dejected expression crossed Mike's features and he sighed, "Do you have to…" he mumbled in a whiney voice before realising what he said and started blushing, "I-I mean yeah, you probably should… It was fun today though" he said with the wide smile that shows off his fangs; this caused Pete to smile back.

"Yeah, especially when you screamed like a little bitch" he teased with a smirk, Mike pushed his shoulder playfully.

"Shut up, you better not tell anyone about that and ruin my reputation" he said dramatically which made Pete chuckle lightly.

"Oh yeah, I'll be sure not to ruin that hardcore rep you built up over the years" he joked, rolling his eyes as he stood up and stretched his legs, giving Mike chance to throw an appreciative glance at his tight jeans.

Mike quickly stood up behind him and placed his still half full teacup on his desk, once Pete had put his boots and bag on he took a deep breath before turning to face Mike who was still smiling as bright as ever.

"Look Mike erm before I go there was something I was gonna tell you…" he sighed then looked up at Mike, "erm Mike I… Well you're really um" he averted his gaze to the side and instinctively grabbed his fringe.

 _Why is this so hard?! I sound like a fucking idiot!_

Mike's smile had now faded, replaced with a mixture of worry and hope with pink dusting his pale cheeks.

"I fucking-" _I can't say it! Goddamn why the fuck? What can I do?!_ Pete was panicking slightly now and without thinking on it he grabbed the front of Mike's shirt and yanked him down, nearly causing the taller to fall over in the process.

Mike's eyes widened when their lips first met, his face instantly flushed but he reacted quickly, kissing Pete back hungrily and his eyes drifting closed. His hands found their way to Pete's hips and he pulled him slightly closer, wanting to finally feel the goths body against his own.

Pete's own hands had loosened in their grip and were currently caressing the hair at the back of Mike's neck, he smiled into the kiss feeling a rush of confidence and tentatively pulled away. He rested his forehead against Mike's, " _I fucking like you…_ " he whispered, his breath ghosting over Mike's lips, the latter stood in shock for a moment, not believing what had just happened.

"Pete I-" just has he was about to respond Pete jerked away, his face a complete mask of distress, he didn't register what he was doing while he was doing it but now it was as if everything was replaying in slow motion in his head.

His cheeks darkened slightly, "I-I have to", he didn't finish his sentence before he was out the door and down the stairs, he didn't even reply when Mike's mother said goodbye.

"Pete wait!" Mike called after him from the top of the stairs but it was too late, Pete was out of the door and running, he didn't stop running until he had reached his house, not even when his throat and legs began burning. He quickly went to his room and threw his bag on the floor, then kicked his boots off as he collapsed onto his bed.

 _Why the fuck did I run?! He definitely kissed me back so why did I run?_

He groaned and gently touched his lips with his fingers, they were still tingling and he could feel the pressure still from where Mike's piercings were, even his sides were hot where Mike put his hands, he curled up slightly as he could feel himself straining against the confines of his tight jeans.

 _I'm such a pussy…_

Mike was sitting on his bed, smiling to himself with his fingers stroking his lips, he giggled lightly to himself like a schoolgirl. He was ecstatic to finally know how Pete felt and he could still taste the smoky coffee that accompanied the kiss. It tasted like he always imagined it would.

He stayed sitting there until his tea went cold.


End file.
